Alalam – Syria

A Syrian military offensive in Aleppo, was over, Russia's UN envoy said on Tuesday (December13) as the United States described the violence in the besieged city as "modern evil."

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said an agreement had been struck for rebels to evacuate the north-western city and he said civilians would be unharmed.

The agreement was a result of talks between Russia and Turkey, a leading backer of the rebels, a Turkish government official said.

The guns fell silent late on Tuesday in Aleppo. A Reuters reporter in the city said no blasts had been heard after days of near constant bombardment.

Half of Syria's 22 million people have been uprooted and more than 400,000 killed in 5-year civil war erupted by ISIS, Fatah Al Sham, former Nusra Front and official wing of Al Qaida in Syria and other extremist groups backed by western and some Persian Gulf countries in the region.

The once-flourishing economic centre of Aleppo with its renowned ancient sites has been pulverised during the war.

UN Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura told reporters that 1,500 opposition fighters of which he said about 30 percent belong to terrorist group Nusra Front still exist in Aleppo.

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