UN approves sending monitors to Aleppo

The United Nations Security Council, with Russia's backing, voted on Dec. 19 to quickly deploy U.N. observers to Aleppo to monitor evacuations and report on the fate of civilians who remain in the besieged Syrian city, which France says is critical to prevent "mass atrocities."

Some 20,000 people have been evacuated from the city so far, said Turkish FM Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. 

The resolution adopted Dec. 19 calls for the U.N. and other institutions to monitor evacuations from eastern Aleppo and demands that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urgently consult Syria and other parties on security and arrangements for the immediate deployment of the monitors.

France and Russia, who submitted rival draft resolutions, announced agreement on a text after more than three hours of closed-door consultations on Dec. 18.

The resolution also demands that all parties allow unconditional and immediate access for the U.N. and its partners to deliver humanitarian aid and medical care, and "respect and protect all civilians across Aleppo and throughout Syria."

The number of those evacuated from eastern Aleppo to the area under control of the opposition has reached 20,000, Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter on Dec. 19, hours after giving the total number of evacuees as 12,000, including 4,500 people evacuated since late Dec. 18. 

The process of evacuation was relaunched after a two-day pause.

The minister said Turkey's efforts on the matter were continuing. 

Convoys of buses from eastern Aleppo reached rebel-held areas of countryside to the west of the city in cold winter weather, according to a U.N. official and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. 

At the same time, 10 buses left the Shiite...