© Omar Sanadiki / ReutersRussian soldiers inspect rebels and civilians who were evacuated from rebel-held eastern Aleppo, in the government-held area of al-Ramousah bridge, Syria December 16, 2016.
The deal was reached earlier on Sunday, according to Reuters, citing al-Ikhbariya TV news. It will see the remaining militants and their families evacuated from east Aleppo in return for the evacuation of people in militant-held villages in Idlib province, al-Foua and Kafraya.
Syrian state television has reported that five buses were attacked and burned by "armed terrorists" while en route to al-Foua and Kefraya.
According to al-Ikhbariya TV news, about 1,200 civilians will initially be evacuated from east Aleppo and a similar number from the two villages in Idlib province. When the evacuees from the villages have arrived in government areas, Aleppo fighters and their family members will be allowed to leave in return for other groups of people from al-Foua and Kefraya.
Citing a rebel representative, AFP also reported that under the new agreement the evacuations will take place in two phases.
"In a first step, half of the people besieged in Aleppo will leave, in parallel with the evacuation of 1,250 people from al-Foua," the AFP source said on condition of anonymity.
"In a second step, 1,250 people from Kafraya will leave in parallel with the evacuation of the remaining people in Aleppo," the rebel representative said.
Another 1,500 people will later leave al-Foua and Kafraya along with the same number from Zabadani and Madaya, two rebel towns in Damascus province blockaded by the Syrian army.
Syrian state news agency SANA reported earlier that evacuation buses had entered the last militant-held district of eastern Aleppo, Ramousah, under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Cross. State television showed live footage of buses and a van bearing a Syrian Arab Red Crescent flag parked next to a highway intersection in Ramousah. Several large white cars marked with Red Crescent and Red Cross symbols also appeared in the footage.
The buses are to evacuate both rebels and civilians remaining in the neighborhood.
On Friday, a day after thousands of people had begun leaving the remaining rebel-held neighborhoods, the Syrian government suspended evacuations after pro-government militias demanded that wounded people should also be released from al-Foua and Kefraya, two Shiite villages in nearby Idlib province under siege by rebels. The main obstacle to resuming the evacuation had been a disagreement over the number of people to be moved out of the Shiite villages.
Comment: There's also this to consider: Report: Fourteen US Coalition military officers captured by Syrian Special Forces in Aleppo!
Meanwhile, later on Sunday, the United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a French-drafted resolution aimed at ensuring that UN officials can monitor the evacuations from Aleppo and the safety of the remaining civilians. Reuters reported that those evacuated on Thursday and Friday morning had been taken to rebel-held districts in the countryside west of Aleppo.
A draft of the resolution "emphasizes that the evacuations of civilians must be voluntary and to final destinations of their choice, and protection must be provided to all civilians who choose or who have been forced to be evacuated and those who opt to remain in their homes."
It was not immediately clear how Russia will vote.
"If it is a sensible initiative and we see it on paper, why not entertain this initiative?" Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said on Friday.
Comment: Alexander Mercouris writes: