Syria: More than 600 civilians evacuated from Homs

More than six hundreds civilians have been evacuated from the rebel-held Old Quarter of Homs, Syria, state media report.

This was despite mortar fire and shooting which activists say killed several people and wounded others.

UN and Syrian Red Crescent teams also managed to deliver relief supplies to the quarter, which has been besieged by government forces for more than a year.

On Saturday aid workers were trapped under fire there for several hours.

The Wall Street Journal‘s Sam Dagher, in Homs, has tweeted that more than a dozen men who came out with the evacuees were detained by security forces and taken away to an unknown location.

Sunday is the final day of what was agreed as a three-day humanitarian truce.

The governor of Homs, Talal al-Barazi, has said the ceasefire may be extended by a further three days, to allow all those who might want to leave the chance to do so.

Elsewhere, opposition activists said at least 11 people were killed in the northern city of Aleppo when government helicopters dropped barrel bombs – crude weapons comprising cylinders packed with explosives and metal fragments – on rebel-held neighborhoods.

The operation to help trapped civilians in Homs was the one concrete agreement reached at recent peace talks in Geneva, which are due to resume on Monday.

A UN/Red Crescent aid convoy came under attack from mortars and gunfire as it was leaving Homs on Saturday.

Syrian authorities have blamed the attack on rebels, but they in turn say that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces were responsible for the incident.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has insisted that the UN and aid agencies will not be deterred by the weekend’s violence.

The Red Crescent, in a joint operation with the UN, is trying to deliver food, water and medicine by truck to some 3,000 civilians in rebel-held areas.

Homs has been a key battleground in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

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