Syrian rebels prepare to withdraw from Aleppo as truce begins

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Syrian rebels prepared to withdraw from Aleppo on Wednesday after a ceasefire agreement that ended years of fighting in the city and gave President Bashar al-Assad his biggest victory yet after more than five years of war; Reuters reported.

The agreement was a result of talks between Russia, Assad's main ally, and Turkey, a leading backer of the rebels, a Turkish government official said. The guns fell silent late on Tuesday in Aleppo. A Reuters reporter in the city said no blasts had been heard after days of near constant bombardment.

It was the culmination of two weeks of rapid advances by the Syrian army and its allies that drove insurgents back into an ever-smaller pocket of the city under intense air strikes and artillery fire.

"Over the last hour we have received information that the military activities in east Aleppo have stopped, it has stopped," said Russia's U.N. envoy Vitaly Churkin late on Tuesday at a heated meeting of the U.N. Security Council. "The Syrian government has established control over east Aleppo."

Rebels groups have been supported by the United States, Turkey and Gulf monarchies, but the insurgent ranks also include jihadist militants who are not backed by Western countries.

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