saturday 15 april 2017 death toll mounts after bomb blast on aleppo evacuee bus convoy. a bomb blast hit a bus convoy waiting to enter aleppo on saturday killing at least 100 and wounding hundreds more after an evacuation deal between syrias warring sides halted and stranded thousands at two transit points on the city outskirts. images posted by the outlets showed bodies lying next to charred buses with their windows blown out and flaming vehicles belching out thick black smoke. british-based monitor the syrian observatory for human rights counted 24 dead and dozens more wounded. the blast hit buses in the rashidin area on aleppos outskirts which had been waiting to cross from rebel-held territory into the government-controlled city itself carrying people evacuated from two shiite villages on friday. the residents alongside hundreds of pro-government fighters had left the two rebel-besieged villages in northwest idlib province under a deal where in exchange hundreds of sunni insurgents and their families moved out of a government-besieged area near damascus. but a delay in the agreement had left all those evacuated stuck at two transit points on aleppos outskirts since late on friday. residents of al-foua and kefraya the shiite villages were waiting in the rashidin area. the rebels and residents of madaya near damascus were waiting at the government-held ramousah bus garage a few miles away. they were to be transported to idlib province which the armed opposition controls. the agreement is one of several over recent months that has seen president bashar al-assads government take back control of areas long besieged by his forces and their allies. the observatory said the delay was caused by the fact that rebels from zabadani another town near damascus included in the deal had not yet been granted safe passage out. a pro-opposition activist said insurgents blamed the delay partly on the fact that a smaller number of pro-government fighters had left the shiite villages than was agreed. earlier on saturday at the transit point where the buses from al-foua and kefraya were waiting one resident said he was not yet sure where he would live. after aleppo ill see what the rest of the group is doing if there are any preparations. my house land and belongings are all in al-foua mehdi tahhan said. we had no choice a madaya resident speaking from the bus garage inside aleppo said people had been waiting there since late on friday and were not being allowed to leave. theres no drinking water or food. the bus garage is small so theres not much space to move around ahmed 24 said. were sad and angry about what has happened he said. many people felt that they had been forced to leave he said. there was no other choice in the end - we were besieged inside a small area in madaya. syrias opposition says the evacuation deals which include areas of aleppo and a district in the city of homs amount to forced displacement of assads opponents from syrias main urban centers in the west of the country. the agreements are also causing demographic changes they say because those who are displaced are mostly sunni muslims. syrias population is mostly sunni. assad is from the alawite religious minority often considered an offshoot of shiite islam. he has been backed militarily by russia and by shiite fighters from iran and the lebanese hezbollah group in syrias six-year-old conflict. assad has the military advantage over rebels in the west thanks to russias intervention in 2015 although the insurgents are still fighting back and have made gains in some areas.
death toll mounts after bomb blast on aleppo evacuee bus convoy