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Nearly 1,000 civilians and 26 wounded people have been evacuated in buses and ambulances from a besieged rebel-held enclave in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it expects this number to double by the end of the day.
Government forces, backed by Russian allies, took nearly all remaining rebel-held parts of Aleppo this week after a four-year battle.
It represents a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad.
He hailed the "liberation" of Aleppo and said history was being made.
The evacuation of civilians, rebels and their families had been due to take place on Wednesday but an earlier ceasefire deal collapsed.
It is unclear how many rebels are being evacuated along with civilians. The evacuees are being transferred to rebel-held areas in neighbouring Idlib province.
Image copyright AFP
"This for us is the first step, it was a positive one," Robert Mardini, ICRC regional director for the Near and Middle East, told Reuters news agency in Geneva.
"We were able so far to evacuate 26 wounded persons from east Aleppo and close to 1,000 civilians, who were transferred from east Aleppo to western rural Aleppo."
"Many more" rotations of buses and ambulances would be needed in the coming days, he added.
Image copyright AFP
Syrian state TV had earlier said that "4,000 rebels and their families would be evacuated from eastern districts on Thursday", adding that "all the procedures for their evacuation" were ready.
A statement from the Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, part of Russia's ministry of defence, said the Syrian authorities had guaranteed the safety of all members of the armed groups who decided to leave Aleppo.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Muslim movement backing the Syrian government, said there had been "big complications" but that "intensive contacts... led to re-consolidating a ceasefire to exit armed fighters from eastern districts".
The rebels confirmed a fresh ceasefire had come into effect at 03:00 GMT and that a new deal had been agreed.
As operations began, an ambulance service official in eastern Aleppo said that one convoy of ambulances had been shot at, with three people injured.
The White Helmets civil defence group tweeted that one senior volunteer had been shot and injured by a sniper while clearing an evacuation route for ambulances.
Where are the evacuees being taken?
Buses and ambulances are taking the injured, civilians and rebel fighters to the neighbouring province of Idlib, most of which is controlled by a powerful rebel alliance that includes the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
The buses left Aleppo via the road through the government-controlled south-western district of Ramousseh, heading towards the nearby rebel-held towns of Khan Touman and Khan al-Asal.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption Up to 50,000 people are said to still be in eastern Aleppo
The chief of the Russian military's General Staff, Gen Valery Gerasimov, told a news briefing: "A humanitarian corridor has been created for the evacuation of militants.
"This corridor is 21km long," he said, adding, "6km lie across Aleppo's territories controlled by government troops and another 15km through territories in the hands of illegal armed groups."
Twenty passenger buses and 10 ambulances were being used for the operation, the general said. Some rebels were using their own vehicles, numbering 100, he said.
Elizabeth Hoff, of the World Health Organization, said the operation was "going smoothly".
Poleni sana watu wa Sirya, Karibuni kwa mjadala jamani.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it expects this number to double by the end of the day.
Government forces, backed by Russian allies, took nearly all remaining rebel-held parts of Aleppo this week after a four-year battle.
It represents a major victory for President Bashar al-Assad.
He hailed the "liberation" of Aleppo and said history was being made.
The evacuation of civilians, rebels and their families had been due to take place on Wednesday but an earlier ceasefire deal collapsed.
It is unclear how many rebels are being evacuated along with civilians. The evacuees are being transferred to rebel-held areas in neighbouring Idlib province.
Image copyright AFP
"This for us is the first step, it was a positive one," Robert Mardini, ICRC regional director for the Near and Middle East, told Reuters news agency in Geneva.
"We were able so far to evacuate 26 wounded persons from east Aleppo and close to 1,000 civilians, who were transferred from east Aleppo to western rural Aleppo."
"Many more" rotations of buses and ambulances would be needed in the coming days, he added.
Image copyright AFP
Syrian state TV had earlier said that "4,000 rebels and their families would be evacuated from eastern districts on Thursday", adding that "all the procedures for their evacuation" were ready.
A statement from the Russian Centre for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, part of Russia's ministry of defence, said the Syrian authorities had guaranteed the safety of all members of the armed groups who decided to leave Aleppo.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Muslim movement backing the Syrian government, said there had been "big complications" but that "intensive contacts... led to re-consolidating a ceasefire to exit armed fighters from eastern districts".
The rebels confirmed a fresh ceasefire had come into effect at 03:00 GMT and that a new deal had been agreed.
As operations began, an ambulance service official in eastern Aleppo said that one convoy of ambulances had been shot at, with three people injured.
The White Helmets civil defence group tweeted that one senior volunteer had been shot and injured by a sniper while clearing an evacuation route for ambulances.
Where are the evacuees being taken?
Buses and ambulances are taking the injured, civilians and rebel fighters to the neighbouring province of Idlib, most of which is controlled by a powerful rebel alliance that includes the jihadist group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
The buses left Aleppo via the road through the government-controlled south-western district of Ramousseh, heading towards the nearby rebel-held towns of Khan Touman and Khan al-Asal.
Image copyright AFP
Image caption Up to 50,000 people are said to still be in eastern Aleppo
The chief of the Russian military's General Staff, Gen Valery Gerasimov, told a news briefing: "A humanitarian corridor has been created for the evacuation of militants.
"This corridor is 21km long," he said, adding, "6km lie across Aleppo's territories controlled by government troops and another 15km through territories in the hands of illegal armed groups."
Twenty passenger buses and 10 ambulances were being used for the operation, the general said. Some rebels were using their own vehicles, numbering 100, he said.
Elizabeth Hoff, of the World Health Organization, said the operation was "going smoothly".
Poleni sana watu wa Sirya, Karibuni kwa mjadala jamani.
