Roundup: Warring sides resume fighting in Aleppo as truce falters

A truce for evacuating rebels and their families from rebel-held areas in Aleppo city in northern Syria has failed, and both warring sides resumed fighting, sources in Aleppo told Xinhua on Wednesday.

Both sides are exchanging mortar fire, hours after an anticipated evacuation of rebels was delayed for unknown reasons, sources said on condition of anonymity.

Sources said the government busses were ready to transport the rebels through the Ramouseh road out of Aleppo toward the western countryside of the city.

Local media outlets accused the rebels of breaching the truce, saying they attempted to attack military positions, when the army responded with firepower, and thwarted their attempt.

Also, the Russian-run monitoring center of Hmaimim in Syria's northern city of Latakia said that the rebels were the ones breaching the truce, by repositioning their forces and resuming the battles against the Syrian army.

It added that the Syrian forces repelled the attacks.

For his part, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that calls for truce in Aleppo aim to give a respite to the rebels to allow them to take their breath for another fight.

With the renewed shelling, he said the rebels remaining in eastern Aleppo can resist for two or three days at the most.

Meanwhile, the state-run TV said one man was killed and 16 others wounded by mortar attack on a marketplace in the Khalidiyeh neighborhood in government-controlled part in west of Aleppo.

It added that six others were killed by similar attack on the recently-captured Bustan al-Qaser neighborhood east of Aleppo.

On the opposition side, activists said the Syrian forces were the ones breaching the truce, by targeting the rebel-held areas with tens of mortar shells and artillery shells.

Activists said the shelling was random in the rebel-held areas of Mashad, Ansari, Salahuddien, Mashad and Sukari.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group also confirmed the falling of the truce for the rebels evacuation, saying intense battles broke out in Aleppo again.

With both parties trading barbs, it was clear what derailed the operation in Aleppo, where the Syrian army has become in control of 99 percent of the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo.

Pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV cited a Syrian military source as saying that the rebels initially said there were 2,000 people to evacuate, adding that the number later on turned out to be 15,000.

The cited source said "the negotiations for the evacuation of the rebels have revealed the deception of the rebels, as they have initially informed us that the number of those leaving is 2,000, but we have later discovered that the number is 15,000, including 4,000 rebels and their families."

The unnamed source also said that "any deal or political settlement must be agreed by all parties, mainly the Syrian government."

The source added that the large number of evacuees demands a "political work on an international level and not to be a partial talk."

Apparently, the large number of people that will evacuate eastern Aleppo pushed the government to consider putting other items in the deal, such as the need to retrieve the bodies of the slain soldiers and those kidnapped by the rebels.

Also, the government in Syria reportedly wants to include lifting the rebels' siege off the towns of Kafraya and Foa in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The military source, cited by al-Mayadeen, said the Syrian army will continue the battles until liberating all of Aleppo.

This comes as thousands of civilians kept flooding out of eastern Aleppo toward government-controlled areas, and temporary shelters, where their identities are being scrutinized.

Local reports placed the number of evacuated people from eastern Aleppo at more than 80,000.

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

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

On Monday and Tuesday evening, celebrations broke out in Aleppo, as the army has almost captured the city, with people chanting in support of President Bashar al-Assad and the army.

The state TV said it was the day of celebration for Aleppo's victory.

With military victory in Aleppo, the Western powers have been on a barrage of accusations to the Syrian army of committing atrocities in eastern Aleppo.

Observers believe that such tactic is a play on the humanitarian file to tarnish the military campaign in eastern Aleppo, especially that the remaining rebels are with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, and also because the Western powers didn't want the Syrian army to recapture all of Aleppo.

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