Evacuation Of East Aleppo Brought To A Halt After One Day

[ucrdem]

Source: NPR

Thousands of civilians and fighters have already been evacuated from the rebel-held enclave: Some 3,000 civilians were evacuated in the first few convoys, along with more than 40 wounded people, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday.

The aid group anticipated it would take days to fully evacuate east Aleppo.

But on Friday, efforts were halted, NPR's Alison Meuse reports.

"The World Health Organization Syria rep Elizabeth Hoff says her staff were told to leave the evacuation area south of the city 'without explanation.' Hoff is in Aleppo and was addressing reporters at a new conference in Geneva," Alison says.

There are conflicting claims over how many people have been evacuated so far from eastern Aleppo, and how many remain.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/16/505819841/evacuation-of-east-aleppo-brought-to-a-halt

[ucrdem]

1. Reasons, per Reuters:

Reuters reports that there are "recriminations on all sides," with various explanations for why evacuations have stopped:

"Rebel sources accused pro-government Shi'ite militias of opening fire on bus convoys taking evacuees out of the city.

"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.

"But a media outlet run by the pro-government Hezbollah group said protesters had blocked the road from the city, demanding that wounded people from the villages of Foua and Kefraya in nearby Idlib province should also be evacuated.

"It also said rebels had bombarded a road due to be used by buses to conduct the evacuation from the Shi'ite villages."

[David__77]

4. The evacuation of Fua and Kefraya is part of the deal.

I have no idea if it's true that JFS (Nusra insurgents) has blocked that evacuation. If so, I understand that the deal is unworkable. It seems to me that the al Qaeda JFS calls the shots in Idlib, the main bastion of non-Islamic State, non-YPG/SDF insurgents.

[notdeplorable]

6. Flip flop

Trump has gone from non-interventionist on campaign trail to calling now for "safe zones," i.e. direct military intervention.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/us/politics/syria-safe-zones-donald-trump.html

Tulsi Gabbard's trip to Trump Tower wasn't enough to counter the pulls of the neocons, I guess

[DK504]

2. And when exactly will the UN

get involved and call these war crimes.

[David__77]

3. It won't get involved without Russia's agreement.

That's the rule of the game.

[Blue_Tires]

5. Greenwald and Scahill were unavailable for comment

[inanna]

7. ABC News: Orphaned Children Remain Trapped in Aleppo After Evacuations Suspended

Dec 16, 2016, 3:45 PM ET

Orphaned children in Aleppo who were seen in a video this week pleading to be evacuated remain trapped in Syria’s war-torn city, according to one organization.

A source with the Afkar Foundation, which oversees an underground orphanage in eastern Aleppo, told ABC News that the children were not able to leave the area's last rebel-held enclave after the evacuation of civilians and fighters stopped Friday. The children were told to turn back when they reached an evacuation checkpoint, the source said.

In September, ABC News profiled the underground orphanage, where many children have sought refuge from years of devastating war. The facility was forced underground in order to protect the children from the life-threatening reality above them. In a video message recorded Wednesday, the children at the orphanage pleaded to be evacuated following the collapse of another cease-fire between Syrian rebels and forces loyal to the government.

“Today might be the last time you see me and hear my voice,” one 10-year-old girl says in the video, surrounded by the other children at the orphanage. “Please help us get out of Aleppo.”

...

http://abcnews.go.com/International/orphaned-children-remain-trapped-aleppo-evacuations-suspended/story?id=44243855