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Egypt helps mediate Aleppo evacuation: official

Xinhua, October 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

Egypt said Thursday that it is coordinating between United Nations bodies and Syrian authorities to help evacuate the injured and the elderly from Aleppo and bring in humanitarian aid into the embattled northern Syrian city.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said the Egyptian embassy in Damascus is leading the mediation efforts as part of Cairo's commitment to "rectifying the humanitarian situation in Aleppo."

He said Egypt's Charge D'Affaires in Damascus, Counselor Mohamed Tharwat, is planning to visit Aleppo to oversee the evacuation process.

A three-day humanitarian truce in Aleppo declared by the general-command of the Syrian army started on Thursday, effective from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.

Also on Thursday, Syrian military helicopters dropped hundreds of thousands of leaflets over rebel-held areas in Aleppo, detailing routes for civilians and rebels to leave, a military source told Xinhua.

The maps highlight six routes for civilians who want to leave the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo into government-controlled ones, and two routes for rebels who want to evacuate to other rebel-held areas in the countryside of Aleppo, the source said on condition of anonymity. Endit