Russian Military Prepares to Evacuate Remaining Militants From East Aleppo

Russian military prepares to evacuate remaining militants and their families from East Aleppo to Idlib under Putin's order, the Russian reconciliation center said Thursday.

According to the center, about 20 buses and 10 ambulances will carry out evacuations of the militants. The reconciliation center is monitoring the situation in the area using surveillance cameras, drones.

"By an order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian reconciliation center in collaboration with the Syrian authorities is preparing to evacuate the remaining militants and their family members from the eastern discyricts of the city of Aleppo," the center said in a statement.

The Syrian authorities are guaranteeing that all members of armed groups who decide to leave eastern Aleppo will be safe, the center added.

"The Syrian authorities are guaranteeing safety of all members of armed groups who decided to leave eastern districts of Aleppo," the center said in a statement.

The Russian reconciliation center added that International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will be assisting in evacuation of wounded militants. The ICRC staff will accompany ambulances under the Russian servicemen' guidance.

Earlier in the day, a spokesperson of the ICRC told Sputnik that some 100 volunteers and staff were involved in evacuations.

"ICRC and SARC [the Syrian Arab Red Crescent] have been requested by the parties to facilitate the evacuation of wounded. 100 SARC volunteers and ICRC staff are involved, and 10 ambulances are onsite," the spokesperson said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Russian reconciliation center said that the Syrian government army was controlling over 98 percent of the territory of Aleppo, with militants present in less than 1 square mile of the city's territory.

#Aleppo Officially the ceasefire is proceeding very great as the transferring process is operating smoothly.
Evacuation is ongoing now!

— Zouhir_AlShimale (@ZouhirAlShimale) December 15, 2016

​Since 2012, Aleppo, formerly the largest city in Syria, has been heavily involved in the conflict between the government forces and militants, which led to the city eventually divided into the western part held by the government and the eastern part controlled by the militants.Looks like the remaining rebels in East #Aleppo are trying to dictate the terms for their evacuation by holding civilians hostage. pic.twitter.com/1bNjP0iCS3

— Lina Arabi (@LinaArabii) December 14, 2016