THE evacuation process from east Aleppo finally got under way yesterday after fresh negotiations led to a re-established ceasefire.

Buses and ambulances carried the first batch of 5,000 people from Ramouseh, in the south of the occupied pocket, to areas west of the city held by their allies.

The official Sana news agency said loud explosions had been heard as the rebels detonated their remaining ammunition dumps and burnt piles of documents that might incriminate their foreign backers.

The initial agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey on Tuesday evening broke down on Wednesday morning after the encircled militants launched a last-ditch breakout attempt with suicide vehicle bombs.

Yesterday, the Army of Conquest alliance of Western-backed militants and al-Qaida-linked factions made yet another attempt to break

through to Ramouseh from the south-west, but they were defeated by the Syrian army.

Lieutenant General Viktor Poznikhir of the Russian general staff said later that more than 1,000 people had been evacuated so far.

They will be taken west to Army of Conquest-occupied Idlib province, their main route in and out of Turkey, while drones monitor their progress to “prevent provocations.”

Gen Pozhnikir said 108,000 civilians, including 47,000 children, had been evacuated from east Aleppo since the Syrian government launched its push to recapture the area.

More than 900 militants have been killed and 3,000 more surrendered, 1,500 of whom have already been granted amnesty while the others awaited clearance.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the developments were a great victory, proclaiming: “History is being made.”

As part of the deal, the Army of Conquest allowed the evacuation of sick and injured civilians from the besieged towns of Fuah and Kafriya in occupied Idlib province.

Sana reported that 29 ambulances and buses with medical teams were allowed through to the towns outside the provincial capital which have been under artillery and sniper fire for over a year.

Although Aleppo, formerly Syria’s largest city and economic centre, saw only minor protests at the beginning of the war in 2011, extremists attacked the city in 2012 and occupied many eastern districts.

The militants surrounded the west of the city in 2013, threatening to starve 1.5 million residents into surrender, before the army broke through again.

Russian intervention in the war 15 months ago turned the tide, and the occupied east of the city was finally cut off this summer after fierce battles.