Civilians trapped in eastern Aleppo were still waiting to be evacuated from the besieged city early on Thursday morning as a local 6am deadline came and went.

Despite Syrian opposition groups saying an aborted deal was back on, uncertainty remained over the agreement with Hezbollah still reporting “complications”.

Its not clear how many people including rebel fighters are still in the besieged city – It could be as many as 100,000.

On Wednesday a planned evacuation never materialised as shelling began once again.

Residents have faced weeks of bombardment and chronic food and fuel shortages.

Medical facilities in the city have largely been reduced to rubble, as rebels have been squeezed into ever-smaller areas by a major government offensive, backed by Russian air power.

Evacuating the city will mark the end years of fighting for Aleppo and be a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

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