BEIRUT// Opposition fighters agreed on Tuesday night to abandon their last crumbling and besieged sliver of eastern Aleppo, Russia’s UN envoy and a Syrian rebel official said.
Yasser Al Youssef, a political officer with the Nour Al Dine Al Zinki Brigades, said fighters would be allowed to take light weapons with them out of the city. Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the evacuation could take place “within hours.”
However, it remained unclear who was included in the deal, with Mr Churkin saying the agreement was only for fighters and Mr Al Youssef saying it also applied to the evacuation of civilians. The rebels have previously vowed not to leave behind civilians who choose to stay in eastern Aleppo.
The deal comes with the city’s rebel forces on the verge of defeat after fighting for more than four years, having lost all but a few neighbourhoods over the past few weeks.
By Tuesday, the rebels were confined to what the UN described as a “hellish corner” as small as just one square kilometre where hopelessness tightened its grip among the remaining civilians. Pleas for a ceasefire came from both within and outside Syria.
As a rebel defeat looked imminent, Turkey and Russia discussed a rebel withdrawal in last-ditch negotiations.
While Russia has said it was open to rebel fighters withdrawing from the city, negotiations with the US proved fruitless. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov described American calls for a ceasefire as “whining”, saying he was tired of hearing it.
Meanwhile, opposition MPs in Kuwait tried to ratchet up diplomatic pressure on Moscow by urging GCC countries to expel Russian ambassadors over the “genocide” in Aleppo.
The diplomatic manoeuvring came as the UN issued dire warnings about potential war crimes committed by the Syrian government and its allies against civilians in eastern Aleppo.
On Tuesday, the UN human rights office said reports from “reliable sources” indicated at least 82 civilians had been killed by pro-government forces in eastern Aleppo in recent days, with some, including women and children, murdered inside their homes as their neighbourhoods were captured. The office has also received reports that “many civilians” have been detained by pro-government forces.
“We hope, profoundly, that these reports are wrong, or exaggerated, as the situation is extremely fluid and it is very challenging to verify reports,” said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. “However, they have been corroborated by multiple reliable sources.”
Fear of such reprisals by forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad has deterred thousands in eastern Aleppo from leaving rebel territory even as it becomes ever smaller and more dangerous.
Like the rebels in the city, many civilians were waiting for an opportunity to evacuate to territory held by opposition forces outside the city.
Russia says 110,000 civilians, including 45,000 children have fled eastern Aleppo since the Syrian government’s offensive began last month. The UN estimated there were a total of about 250,000 civilians in the area before the offensive.
Syrian state TV on Tuesday showed a stream of people including children, elderly, those in wheelchairs — crossing the lines into government territory, carrying whatever they could through the rain-sodden ruins of their city, as gunfire echoed in the distance.
For those who remained in Eastern Aleppo, their survival appeared to be in question after three months of siege. Some have sent out “final messages” to the world on social media in the past few days as they prepared for the last streets to fall into government hands.
Bilal Abdul Kareem, an American filmmaker trapped by the siege in eastern Aleppo, voiced his frustration in a video on Monday.
“I would like to say to the Muslim umma [community] that is out there: guys, you dropped the ball on this one. You know, [Turkish president Recep Tayyip] Erdogan: nice recitation of the Quran, but you really blew it this time. You really had an opportunity to be the hero, fly in here with a cape and help out these poor people with your troops just 25 kilometres away, but you blew it.”
In August, Turkey joined the war but despite supporting opposition forces, chose not to confront the Syrian government, focusing instead solely on battling ISIL and the Kurdish YPG faction, the long-time thorn in Turkey’s side.
In another video uploaded Tuesday morning, Syrian activist and teacher Abdulkafi Al Hamdo appeared resigned as he spoke about the world’s abandonment of Aleppo.
“Yesterday there were many celebrations in the other part of Aleppo. They were celebrating on our bodies. It’s OK, this is life. But at least we know that we were a free people. We wanted freedom. We didn’t want anything else but freedom,” he said. “I hope you can remember us. I don’t know. Thank you very much.” The camera panned across a shattered street — and then stopped.
jwood@thenational.ae
*With additional reporting from Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse
