Evacuation Of East Aleppo Brought To A Halt After One Day

[inanna]

7. ABC News: Orphaned Children Remain Trapped in Aleppo After Evacuations Suspended

Dec 16, 2016, 3:45 PM ET

Orphaned children in Aleppo who were seen in a video this week pleading to be evacuated remain trapped in Syria’s war-torn city, according to one organization.

A source with the Afkar Foundation, which oversees an underground orphanage in eastern Aleppo, told ABC News that the children were not able to leave the area's last rebel-held enclave after the evacuation of civilians and fighters stopped Friday. The children were told to turn back when they reached an evacuation checkpoint, the source said.

In September, ABC News profiled the underground orphanage, where many children have sought refuge from years of devastating war. The facility was forced underground in order to protect the children from the life-threatening reality above them. In a video message recorded Wednesday, the children at the orphanage pleaded to be evacuated following the collapse of another cease-fire between Syrian rebels and forces loyal to the government.

“Today might be the last time you see me and hear my voice,” one 10-year-old girl says in the video, surrounded by the other children at the orphanage. “Please help us get out of Aleppo.”

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http://abcnews.go.com/International/orphaned-children-remain-trapped-aleppo-evacuations-suspended/story?id=44243855