Photos show Iranian general in Aleppo during evacuation

ANKARA

Fresh photos have showed the presence of Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani during the evacuation of civilians trapped in war-battered Aleppo city in northern Syria.

Earlier this week, Syrian opposition forces in eastern Aleppo reached a ceasefire deal with President Bashar al-Assad’s forces to evacuate civilians from the city.

Since then, at least 7,500 civilians have left Aleppo for safe areas in Idlib -- which is located near the border with Turkey -- according to Syrian opposition group officials.

Iranian media on Friday published photos showing general Soleimani, the head of the Guards' elite Quds Force, along with some people in Aleppo as destroyed building appeared in the background.

Soleimani’s presence coincided with the killing of 14 civilians by pro-Assad regime terrorist groups during the evacuation process.

The process to evacuate civilians from eastern Aleppo was briefly suspended after pro-regime foreign terrorist groups waylaid a civilian convoy after it left eastern Aleppo to Idlib.

According to Anadolu Agency correspondents in Aleppo, pro-regime terrorists opened fire on the Idlib-bound convoy of buses, which had been carrying some 800 civilian residents from the war-battered city.

The terrorists forced the vehicles to stop in southwestern Aleppo’s regime-held Ramouseh suburb and took all the passengers hostage, correspondents reported.

The hostages were later released after 14 of them were killed by terrorists.