ALEPPO: Several thousand people left the rebel enclave of Aleppo on Monday, raising hope for many others still stranded as Russia eased its objections to sending UN observers to oversee the evacuations.
Brokered by rivals Turkey and Russia, the complex deal will eventually see President Bashar al-Assad's forces exert full control over Syria's battered second city.
Early Monday, convoys carrying more than 3,000 people crossed the front line headed for rebel-held territory elsewhere in northern Syria, after around 350 people got out during the night.
They were the first departures since Friday when the government suspended evacuations, insisting that people also be allowed to leave two northwestern villages under rebel siege.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 500 people left in a dawn convoy out of Fuaa and Kafraya.
A medic said the latest evacuees from Aleppo were in a "terrible state" after their departure was delayed for hours in temperatures well below freezing, compounding their plight from months of siege and bombardment by the army.
Ahmad al-Dbis, who heads a team of doctors and volunteers coordinating evacuations, saw dozens of buses arrive at the staging ground west of Aleppo.
He said they were in "a very bad state after waiting for more than 16 hours" at a regime checkpoint without being allowed off the buses.
"They hadn't eaten, they had nothing to drink, the children had caught colds, they were not even able to go to the toilet," Dbis said.
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