Spotlight: Rebels still mired in Aleppo as Syrian army chanting victory

The anticipated evacuation of rebels from the northern city of Aleppo has been delayed for unknown reasons, sources in Aleppo told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Government buses were ready at the Salahuddien crossing to transport the rebels from the few southeastern pockets they are located in, journalists in Aleppo told Xinhua.

Evacuation of the rebels was scheduled to take place at dawn on Wednesday, yet for unknown reasons, the evacuation has not taken place, without any official statement.

"The buses are ready, journalists are in place, but no one has any idea what's going on, and why the evacuation hasn't started yet," Firas Marwan, a journalist, told Xinhua.

However, the ceasefire which was agreed upon in tandem with the evacuation is still in place.

A day earlier, Vitaly Churkin, Russia's permanent representative to the UN, said during a UN Security Council session on Tuesday that "a deal has been reached for the evacuation of the rebels only from Aleppo in the next hours," stressing that "no one will harm the civilians."

Pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said an undisclosed number of rebels will be evacuated out of Aleppo through the al-Ramuseh road, the current road into and out of the city, toward the Rashidien area.

Civilians will have the choice to remain in their areas.

The Syrian army's general-command was expected to make a statement declaring the official Syrian stance on the current situation in Aleppo, but it hasn't yet.

The evacuation of rebels from eastern Aleppo comes after the Syrian army regained control of 99 percent of the rebel-held areas east of Aleppo.

The international community urged the evacuation of rebels out of Aleppo.

This comes as thousands of civilians flooded out of eastern Aleppo into government-controlled areas and temporary shelters, where their identities are being verified.

Local reports placed the number of evacuees from eastern Aleppo at over 80,000.

State news agency SANA said on Tuesday alone thousands of civilians fled eastern Aleppo.

Over 1,000 rebels surrendered in eastern Aleppo in the last two days.

On both Monday and Tuesday, civilians celebrated in Aleppo, as the army almost recaptured the entire city, with people chanting in support of President Bashar al-Assad and the army.

State TV declared it a day of celebration for Aleppo's victory.

With the military victory in Aleppo, Western powers have bombarded the Syrian army with accusations of committing atrocities in eastern Aleppo.

Observers believe that such tactics are using the humanitarian file to tarnish the military campaign in eastern Aleppo, especially since the remaining rebels have ties to the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, as well as the fact that Western powers did not want the Syrian army to recapture all of Aleppo.

In an interview to RT released on Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that "The West is telling Russia we went too far in defeating terrorists."

Al-Assad said the Western statements have other interpretations, basically asking Russia to stop the Syrian army's advance into Aleppo, and that the Syrian army went too far in defeating the terrorists. Endit