1st LD: Syria military pulls back to allow rebels to leave Aleppo

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that units of the Syrian army have pulled back to allow the rebels to leave the eastern part of Aleppo city in northern Syria, state news agency SANA reported.

In a statement, the ministry said the military forces withdrew from certain areas, giving the rebels two roads to leave Aleppo toward the northwestern city of Idlib, as part of a truce recently declared by Russia, which allows the ultra-radical rebels in Aleppo to leave.

It stressed that arrangements for evacuating rebels and civilians from eastern Aleppo were finalized, pointing out that rebels who surrender themselves will be covered under an amnesty from President Bashar al-Assad.

The ministry also noted that it is exerting all possible efforts to secure the evacuation of civilians and rebels from eastern Aleppo, and deliver aid to the people who will stay inside that part of the city.

The Syrian government and Russia have recently urged the rebels in Aleppo to leave, offering them safe passages.

Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy to Syria, recently proposed the evacuation of the ultra-radical groups from eastern Aleppo, so that the Russian and the Syrian air forces could halt their airstrikes against that part of the city. Endit