Evacuation of Aleppo Picks Up as UN Announces They’ll Send Monitors

Evacuation Might Finish Before Monitors Even Arrive

The evacuation of the rebel-held district of the Syrian city of Aleppo continued was going at full pace again today, after some weekend delays involving al-Qaeda blocking evacuations from Shi’ite villages in Idlib. Today, the refugees were able to leave both areas in buses.

An estimated 7,000 people were evacuated from Aleppo today, bringing the total gotten out of the rebel district since last week to 17,000. Estimates vary, but the higher-end suggested about 50,000 people overall needed to be evacuated, and if no new obstacles emerge, that might only take a few days.

The UN Security Council, in a move that is likely entirely too late to make any difference, today agreed to deploy around 100 monitors into Aleppo to prevent “massacres.” The deal was a compromise between French and Russian officials, and UN officials say they’ll be able to deploy the monitors almost immediately

Exactly how immediately that is remains unclear, but officials have conceded that the evacuation might well be completely over by the time the monitors get into position. The reports out of Idlib suggest the evacuations there are continuing apace as well, though there are no plans to get monitors into those villages, surrounded by al-Qaeda forces.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.