Thousands leave Aleppo in evacuation

Tens of thousands have reportedly left besieged Aleppo, with UNICEF saying nearly 50 children have been rescued from an orphanage.

Syrians who were evacuated upon arriving in Jebrin

Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from Syria's east Aleppo, Turkish foreign minister says. Source: SANA

Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from Syria's east Aleppo so far and efforts continue to bring more people out, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says.

Cavusoglu had said earlier on Monday that 12,000 people had been evacuated.

Dozens of buses carrying thousands of people from Aleppo's tiny rebel zone reached insurgent areas of countryside to the west of the city, according to a United Nations official and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group.

The evacuations are the result of intense negotiations between Russia - the main supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - and Turkey, which backs some large rebel groups.

Among those leaving were nearly 50 children who had been trapped in an east Aleppo orphanage, some critically injured or dehydrated, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) evacuated the orphans from eastern Aleppo, along with facility staff who have been caring for them, ICRC spokeswoman Krista Armstrong said.

"They were given priority and were the first to be evacuated by bus when the operation resumed," Armstrong said, adding that she could not provide an exact figure yet.

Earlier, Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF regional director, said in a statement that all 47 children trapped in the orphanage were evacuated to safety, "with some in critical condition from injuries and dehydration".

UNICEF and other agencies were also assisting in reunifying other children evacuated in the past few days with their families and giving them medical care and winter clothes, he said.


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Published 20 December 2016 8:10am
Source: AAP


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