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AFP
Beirut
Civilians and rebel fighters were to start evacuating from Syria's Aleppo"within hours" under a deal reached on Tuesday that would end years of opposition resistance in the city.
Rebel officials, Russia and Turkey confirmed the agreement which, if implemented, would mark a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad over opposition forces who rose up against him in 2011.
Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said the Syrian military had stopped its operations in Aleppo under the agreement, adding:"The fighting around eastern Aleppo is over."
The agreement came amid mounting global outrage over reports of atrocities, including dozens of summary executions, as forces loyal to Assad closed in on the last pocket of rebel territory in Aleppo.
Officials from several rebel groups told AFP it had been agreed to allow civilians and fighters to leave Aleppo for opposition-held territory to the west of the city.
"An agreement has been reached," said Yasser al-Youssef from the political office of the key Nureddin al-Zinki rebel group, adding that the deal had been"sponsored" by Russia and Turkey.
"The first stage will be the evacuation of civilians and wounded, within hours, and afterwards fighters will leave with their light weapons."
As the UN Security Council met in emergency session to discuss Aleppo, Churkin said:"There is indeed an arrangement achieved on the ground that the fighters are going to leave the city."
Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Huseyin Muftuoglu said that under the agreement civilians would first evacuate, followed by a withdrawal of rebel groups.
"While we are pleased with today's step taken to secure a ceasefire, at the same time we must always be aware of the fragile situation in front of us and it is wise to be cautious," he told reporters.
An AFP correspondent in west Aleppo said there had been no sounds of fighting or bombardment since around 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said a ceasefire was in place and confirmed there had been no fighting or air strikes in recent hours.
The United Nations and aid agencies had been pleading for an agreement to allow for the evacuation of thousands of civilians trapped in rebel territory.
After weeks of heavy fighting, forces loyal to Assad were in the last hours of a push to take full control of the city, dealing the biggest blow to Syria's rebellion in more than five years of civil war.
Syria's army has taken more than 90 percent of the territory once held by rebels in east Aleppo, after launching an all-out offensive last month to seize control of the entire city.
