Trapped Syrian civilians and fighters waited desperately yesterday for evacuations to resume from a rebel-held enclave in Aleppo as the Red Cross pleaded for a deal to “save thousands of lives”.
A rebel representative said agreement had been reached to allow more people to leave the city which has been ravaged by some of the worst violence of the nearly six-year war that has killed more than 310,000 people.
But there was no confirmation from President Bashar al-Assad’s regime or its staunch allies Russia and Iran, which are under mounting international pressure to end what US President Barack Obama denounced as the “horror” in Aleppo.
Families spent the night in freezing temperatures in bombed out apartment blocks in Al-Amiriyah district, the departure point for evacuations before they were halted on Friday, an AFP correspondent reported.
Abu Omar said that after waiting outside in the cold for nine hours the previous day, he had returned yesterday only to be told the buses were not coming.
“There’s no more food or drinking water, and the situation is getting worse by the day,” he said, adding that his four children were sick because of the cold.
Dozens of trucks with humanitarian aid crossed the Turkish border yesterday into Syria, piling supplies in a buffer zone.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appealed for safe passage for the thousands of people including women, children, sick and injured who waited through the night “in constant fear and anxiety”.
“People have suffered a lot. Please come to an agreement and help save thousands of lives,” said ICRC Syria delegation head Marianne Gasser.
“We cannot abandon these people.”
The opposition accused the government of halting the operation to try to secure the evacuation of residents from Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages under rebel siege in northwestern Syria.
In return, the rebels want the evacuation of the towns of Madaya and Zabadani in Damascus province which are besieged by the regime.
Al-Farook Abu Bakr, of the hardline Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, said a deal had been reached for evacuations to resume.
“There will be evacuations from Fuaa and Kafraya, as well as Madaya and Zabadani, and all the residents of Aleppo and the fighters will leave,” he said.
But the government did not announce any deal.
A Turkish official said 90 wounded from Aleppo have crossed into Turkey for treatment since Thursday.
Tens of thousands of civilians had already fled opposition-controlled parts of Aleppo after the regime began its assault in mid-November.
lHE the Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani held a telephone conversation yesterday with his Saudi counterpart Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir. During the call, they discussed the worsening humanitarian situation in Aleppo, and ways to co-ordinate efforts to stop the aggression on civilians and ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Saudi Arabia called yesterday for an immediate end to what it said were war crimes being committed by forces loyal to Assad.
“It is by far the worst humanitarian tragedy of the beginning of the 21st century unfolding before the international community’s eyes,” state news agency SPA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying.

Marches draw thousands in London, Berlin
Thousands of protesters joined marches and rallies in London, Berlin and other cities yesterday to call on their governments to do more to help the trapped residents of Aleppo.
Marchers in London said they wanted to show their “extreme rage about the complete inaction of the international community in the face of catastrophic bombings” in Aleppo.
Protesters carrying large banners blocked a main road outside the British parliament, displaying slogans including “Stop the killing!”, “Save Aleppo!” and, in English and Russian, “Bloody money: Don’t trade with killer Putin.”
In Berlin, police said 2,100 protesters turned out for two events calling for peace in the war-wracked country, while 800 people took to the streets for a similar rally in Hamburg.
Marching through Berlin, protesters carried placards that demanded protection for civilians in Aleppo.
Similar events were planned in Milan, Lyon, Sydney, Athens, Amman and several US cities yesterday.
German and international activists plan to set off from Berlin on December 26 in a Civil March for Aleppo, travelling towards Aleppo via a reverse “refugee route” through Greece and Turkey.
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