© Abdalrhman Ismail / ReutersFree Syrian Army fighters fire an anti-aircraft weapon in a rebel-held area of Aleppo
"My latest information is that they indeed have an arrangement achieved on the ground that the fighters are going to leave the city," Churkin said Tuesday ahead of the emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York.
According to Churkin, the militants, who have been holed up in eastern Aleppo for years, are scheduled to leave the city "within hours."
The envoy added that the withdrawal of militant fighters will put the city under the control of the Syrian government and there will be no need for eastern Aleppo residents to leave their homes.
An official with one of the militant groups in Aleppo earlier told Reuters that an agreement had been reached with Russia on Tuesday, while another rebel representative reported, "There are signs of a breakthrough in the coming hours."
However, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies to "urgently allow the remaining civilians to escape" Aleppo and facilitate humanitarian aid access to the city.
"In recent days and hours, we appear to be witnessing nothing less than an all-out effort by the Syrian government and its allies to end the country's internal conflict through a total, uncompromising military victory," Ban told the UN Security Council.
Comment: Ban is a genius. His astute powers of observation are simply the best. Someone remind this guy what happened the previous times the Russians and Syrians offered the rebels a NON-military solution...
Aleppo has been divided between the government forces and the militants since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.
However, in recent weeks, the Syrian Army has made significant gains in eastern Aleppo and is close to liberating it from the militants.
The successful offensive allowed thousands of people to flee the area and receive humanitarian assistance from the Russian and Syrian military.
...so the "militants" are being given another chance to re-group and continue, with the aid of the CIA to wreck Syria again. They should be shown the same mercy that they gave the Syrian civilians--none at all.