Militants Not Letting Terror Act Victims Near Aleppo Go to Gov't Controlled Area

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, a source told Sputnik that a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in the Rashidin neighborhood of Aleppo near a convoy of buses carrying civilians evacuated from the Syrian Shiite towns of Fua and Kefraya. At least 70 people were reportedly killed, with many women and children among them.

"Terrorists are not letting people flee from the territory toward Aleppo and are preventing evacuation of Fua and Kefraya residents [from militants-held Rashidin neighborhood near Aleppo]," the source said.

On Friday, evacuation from four besieged Syrian towns, namely, Fua, Kefraya, Madaya and Zabadani started as part of population swap deal between Damascus and opposition forces agreed in March in the framework of national reconciliation program. According to Syria's government data, 2,350 people were evacuated from Zabadani, while some 5,000 people were transported from Shiite populated Fua and Kefraya.

The settlements of Fua and Kefraya have been besieged by militants for three years, with thousands people still staying there. The humanitarian situation has been worsening given that the aid convoys had been prevented by terror groups operating in Syria from reaching the towns.