Rebel evacuation from Syria's Aleppo back on track

 The suspended evacuation of rebels from their remaining strongholds in Syria's northern city of Aleppo will resume soon, a military source told Xinhua on Saturday.

The resumption of the rebel evacuation from their last few strongholds in the eastern part of the city is expected to resume on Saturday evening, as the rebels agreed to abide by previous pledges, the source said on condition of anonymity.

The evacuation was suspended on Friday due to rebels' failure to fulfill the deal struck between Russia and Turkey.

A major part of the deal was that the rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib allow civilians to leave the besieged Shiite towns of Kafraya and Foa.

Two batches of the rebels and their families, estimated at over 8,000 people, left Aleppo on Thursday according to the deal, but the rebels in Idlib haven't allowed the civilians to leave as planned.

When the rebels fell short of abiding to their pledges in the two Shiite towns, residents from the town who are now residing in Aleppo, cut off the road before the convoy that was carrying the rebels on Friday.

The deal was supposed to see the evacuation of 15,000 people, including 4,000 rebels.

This comes as the Syrian army has become in control of 99 percent of the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo, as part of a major offensive launched recently to drive out the rebels from the city.

source: Xinhua