UPDATE - Second civilian convoy from east Aleppo reaches safety

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM TURKISH FM

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) - The second convoy of civilians from eastern Aleppo has reached an opposition-controlled area, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday.

“Our efforts continue for Aleppo. 2nd convoy of 16 buses carrying civilians reached the area under control of opposition in West Aleppo,” Cavusoglu tweeted.

He also mentioned about a third convoy from eastern Aleppo.

“Buses have returned to Aleppo for 3rd convoy, people are getting on buses now. Our efforts continue & we are closely following developments,” he said in another tweeted.

“1,198 civilians (577 men, 320 women, 301 children) who departed from East Aleppo reached the area under opposition control in West Aleppo,” he added.

The minister also thanked Turkey’s National Intelligence Service, aid agencies, Directorate of Disaster and Emergency Management and Turkish Red Crescent for their efforts to help civilians.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak said six injured people from the Syrian city were brought to Turkey for treatment.

According to Anadolu Agency reporters on site, the total number of those evacuated from Aleppo has now reached 2,284 people.

According to an agreement between the Assad regime and Syrian opposition groups, civilians evacuated from eastern Aleppo will continue to head towards Idlib, which is located near the border with Turkey.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the "Arab Spring" uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, put the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.