Aleppo evacuation begins after Wednesday delays due to ceasefire breakdown
The evacuation of trapped civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo has eventually begun on Thursday after a ceasefire broke down the day before, according to Red Cross officials.
The first arrival of 10 vehicles is expected to take between 200 and 250 injured people out of the Eastern part of the city, which has been under siege for months.
In a tweet sent by the Red Cross in Syria, the humanitarian organisation said that the operation was underway.
"Operation to evacuate around 200 wounded, some critically, from east #Aleppo underway. We’re on the ground with @SYRedCrescent," the tweet read.
The ceasefire was declared on Wednesday as buses entered the eastern part of the city to evacuate those who were still trapped, but the violence began again later in the day, as well as air strikes.
A major offensive launched by Bashar al-Assad's forces in recent months has attempted to finally take back Eastern Aleppo, which has been controlled by rebel factions since 2012.
Turkish intelligence and Russian military officials brokered the deal that was agreed in order to offer respite to the thousands of civilians remaining in the region.
Russia has placed the blame for the breakdown of the ceasefire on the rebels, with its defence ministry claiming that they used the ceasefire as a way to regroup for further attacks.
Eastern Aleppo has been brought to its knees during the four-year conflict, in which over 250,000 are said to have died. Fighting has intensified with the regime's offensive in recent weeks, with frequent food shortages due to almost constant bombardment.
Experts estimate that there are at least 50,000 people still trapped in the besieged areas of the city, with around 1,500 of those fighting on the side of rebel factions.