Aleppo battle: Red Cross evacuates disabled civilians from frontline

Of those rescued, 118 patients were taken to three hospitals in the government-controlled west

The Red Cross says it has evacuated 148 mostly disabled and elderly civilians found in a part of the Syrian city of Aleppo recently recaptured by the army.

They were trapped for days inside a former old people's home in what was a rebel-held part of the Old City because of heavy fighting nearby. Many had injuries or conditions which left them unable to move.


Eleven others died before they could be reached, either caught in the crossfire or because of a shortage of medicine. In the past three weeks, government forces have retaken about 75% of eastern Aleppo, which rebels had controlled for four years.

Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced by the battle. More than 100,000 others may be under siege in areas still under rebel control, where food supplies are exhausted and there are no functioning hospitals.

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The evacuation of the Dar al-Safaa old people's home was a joint operation by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

It took place late on Wednesday night, hours after troops took full control of the Old City's Meshatyeh district.