Buses used to evacuate Syrian villages attacked, set ablaze

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is hoping to resume the evacuation of civilians and injured people from Aleppo after the plan collapsed on Friday (16 December).

Earlier, Islamist fighters burned buses sent to evacuate hundreds of wounded people from two Shiite government-held villages in northern Syria on Sunday in what a United Nations. official described as a “cowardly terrorist attack”.

Five buses carrying evacuees arrived in rebel-held Khan al-Assal, AFP news agency quoted Ahmad al-Dbis, who heads a team of doctors coordinating evacuations to the town, as saying. A video posted on social media showed fighters cheering as the vehicles burnt while celebratory gunfire rang out.

An AFP correspondent who visited a hospital in the rebel sector witnessed appalling conditions, with patients lying on the floor without food or water and with nearly no heating.

The Observatory said Jabhat Fatah Al Sham had carried out the attack.

Most of the villagers are Shiite Muslims, while most of the rebels are Sunni Muslims.

The fate of more than 500 men who were detained inside Aleppo, or arrested at checkpoints as they tried to leave remains unknown, and rights groups have expressed serious fears for their safety.

State media blame the burnings on “armed terrorists”, a collective name for any group fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The document calls on all parties to the conflict to give the monitors “an immediate and impartial access” to perform these tasks. A vote will he be held on Monday, diplomats said.

Evacuations from the Syrian city of Aleppo have stalled again, after rebels and pro-government forces appeared to reach a deal.

The meeting on Friday was initiated at France’s request and was supposed to brief the Security Council on the evacuation process that involves thousands of civilians and fighters leaving eastern Aleppo.

Al-Manar, a satellite channel for the Lebanese Hezbollah militia fighting in the country in support of the Assad regime, claimed that designated buses for the evacuation of “the humanitarian cases” were being prepared to enter the two villages of Foua and Kefraya Saturday night.

“My soul is torn out more with each step away from Aleppo“, he whispered in an audio message to The Associated Press, not wanting to wake other evacuees in their temporary home in a village west of the ancient city.

The buses will be used to evacuate rebels and civilians, it said.

The United Nations agreed on Sunday on a compromise draft resolution on UN officials monitoring the evacuations from Aleppo. “But there could be another thing which could be adopted today by the Security Council which would accomplish the same goals”, Vitaly Churkin said on Sunday without elaborating.

He said Russian Federation would put “some very simple ideas” – which he refused to disclose – to council members and that if they agreed a resolution could be adopted.

Reports said a new agreement was reached in the early hours of Sunday but delays meant thousands of civilians remained stranded throughout the morning.

Aleppo has seen some of the worst violence of the almost six-year war that has killed more than 400,000 people.