Aleppo battle: Hopes rise for evacuation of rebel-held areas

Buses are again poised to start evacuations from a rebel-held enclave in the Syrian city of Aleppo under a renewed but fragile deal.

Fighters and civilians had been due to leave on Wednesday, but a ceasefire collapsed. Rebels say a new truce came into effect on Thursday morning.

One convoy of ambulances tried to leave but was shot at, rebel sources said.

Government forces took nearly all remaining rebel-held parts of Aleppo this week after a four-year battle.

Latest updates from Aleppo

Syrian state TV said "4,000 rebels and their families would be evacuated from eastern districts on Thursday", adding that "all the procedures for their evacuation are ready".

A media unit run by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Muslim movement backing the Syrian government, said there had been "big complications" but that "intensive contacts between the responsible parties... led to re-consolidating a ceasefire to exit armed fighters from eastern districts in the next few hours".

Soldiers from Russia - Syria's ally - would lead the rebels out, escorting them along a corridor towards Idlib city on buses and ambulances, with surveillance drones monitoring the situation, a statement from the Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, part of Russia's ministry of defence, said.