Iran's militias foil Aleppo ceasefire

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Iranian militias in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo foiled the ceasefire agreement announced on Tuesday which states to evacuate all armed men, civilians, and injured from the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo to Idlib city.

The head of the Turkish Red Crescent as saying on Wednesday said nearly 1,000 people from Aleppo evacuated overnight after a ceasefire deal have been held at an Iranian militia checkpoint outside the city.

"These people had passed the Russian check point," Kerem Kinik told Anadolu, referring to those evacuated. "But after leaving Aleppo, they were stopped at the second point where Iranian militia was present and still they are denied passage," he said.

The regime blamed the opposition accusing them of violating the agreement and renewing their bombings on besieged neighborhoods on Wednesday.

Negotiations officer representing the Syrian resistance in Aleppo al-Faruq Abu Bakr refuted all news published by regime media that armed opposition prevented evacuation of the besieged in Aleppo city confirming they offered all facilitation for the evacuation.

Abu Bakr indicated in a statement to Zaman al-Wasl that regime ally, the Iranian regime is the one which obstructed the evacuation process and obstructed on Wednesday cars transporting the injured who were prepared to exit Aleppo to Idlib.

Al-Faruq confirmed that until 12:15 p.m. no one got evacuated from Aleppo, pointing out that regime supporting militias targeted the besieged neighborhoods with mortars during the past hours. He renewed that Syrian resistance is committed to ceasefire.

Head of Aleppo Local Council Barita Haji Hasan considered that the main goal of regime and its allies’ offensive on Aleppo is to make a new demographic change and surrender the city to Shiite militias to finish what they started in Hananou from setting up Hussainyat as it was documented by a recording.

Talks are still underway to allow the buses carrying civilians to move towards the rebel-held Idlib province, he added.

A ceasefire was brokered on Tuesday by Russia, Assad's most powerful ally, and Turkey to end years of fighting in Aleppo but the planned evacuation of rebel districts stalled on Wednesday as air strikes and heavy shelling hit the city and Iran was said to have imposed new conditions on the deal. (With Reuters)