In Syria, the evacuation of the last opposition-held areas of the city of Aleppo was suspended yesterday after pro-government militias demanded that wounded people should also be brought out of two Shi’ite villages being besieged by rebel fighters.
The second day of the operation to take fighters and civilians out of Aleppo’s rebel enclave ground to a halt amid recriminations from all sides after a morning that had seen the pace of the operation pick up.
Russia said the Syrian army had established control over all districts of eastern Aleppo, although government troops were suppressing isolated areas where rebel fighters continued to resist.
A Syrian official source said the evacuation was halted because rebels had sought to take out people they had abducted with them, and they had also tried to take weapons hidden in bags. This was denied by Aleppo-based rebel groups.