The battle for Aleppo is drawing to a close as thousands of civilians are still trapped in the eastern part of the city.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that lives are at risk as "thousands with no part in the violence have literally nowhere safe to run."
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also raised the alarm about atrocities against civilians in parts of the city re-taken by Bashar al-Assad's militias and army. Reports have suggested that locals are being executed, tortured, and raped.
The rebels announced late Tuesday afternoon (GMT) that they had reached a cease-fire deal with Russia to evacuate some opposition forces and civilians from the city. About 40,000 people will be allowed to leave, a source within the opposition with knowledge of the talks told Business Insider.
Civilians inside the rebel-held eastern part of the city have, through social media, shared the horrors going on inside Aleppo. After most defences collapsed on Monday and the Syrian army started advancing on the last part of the city, many of them, still trapped in the eastern part of the city, have been posting harrowing final goodbye messages in the past few hours.
Rami Zien, whose Twitter bio says he is a Syrian journalist and activist based in eastern Aleppo and a former freelance photographer for Reuters. He sent this tweet at 12:59 p.m. GMT on December 13:
—Rami Zien (@Rami_Zien) December 13, 2016
His previous tweet was sent on December 12 at 6:13 p.m. GMT:
—Rami Zien (@Rami_Zien) December 12, 2016
Lina Shamy, whose Twitter bio says "to the great Syrian Revolution I belong," posted her last message on December 13 at 2:41 a.m. GMT:
—Lina shamy (@Linashamy) December 13, 2016
Related story
Earlier on Monday night, she had tweeted this video:
"To everyone who can hear me, we are here exposed to a genocide in the besieged city of Aleppo. This might be my last video. More than 50,000 people who rebelled against the dictator Bashar al-Assad are threatened with field executions or dying under bombings."
She then spoke about reports that people were being executed in parts of the city that had been retaken by Assad forces. She added that the civilians in eastern Aleppo were stuck in small area with no safe zones.
Monther Etaky, a journalist and "activist against Assad's regime" according to his Twitter bio, posted this tweet on December 12 at
—Monther Etaky (@montheretaky) December 12, 2016
And this one on December 13 at
—Monther Etaky (@montheretaky) December 13, 2016
Zouhir Al-Shimale, whose Twitter bio says he is a freelance journalist, tweeted this on December 13 at 8:34 a.m. GMT:
—Zouhir_AlShimale (@ZouhirAlShimale) December 13, 2016
Bana Alabed, a seven-year-old girl, and her mother, have been tweeting about what is happening in eastern Aleppo for months. The last tweet from the account was sent at 9:06 a.m. GMT on December 13:
—Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) December 13, 2016
Bilial Abdul Kareem, whose Twitter bio says he is a journalist and documentary filmmaker. His last tweet was sent at 5:33 p.m. GMT on December 12. This is the penultimate one:
—Bilal Abdul Kareem (@BilalKareem) December 12, 2016
Mr Alhamdo, whose Twitter bio says he is a teacher, activist and reporter in eastern Aleppo. His last tweet was sent at 4:47 a.m. GMT:
—@Mr.Alhamdo (@Mr_Alhamdo) December 13, 2016
In a statement, the White Helmets, a group of volunteer search and rescue workers who have been saving lives in eastern Aleppo since the war started, have estimated that 100,000 civilians are stuck in the city. They now say: "We can do no more."
—The White Helmets (@SyriaCivilDef) December 13, 2016
