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(CNN) — A desperate operation to evacuate thousands of Syrians from eastern Aleppo could be completed by Wednesday, Turkey has claimed.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted Tuesday that 37,500 people had been evacuated from the war-torn city so far, adding that "all evacuations are intended to be finished by tomorrow."
However, the International Committee of the Red Cross has put the number of evacuees since Thursday at 25,000 and said the operation is "still ongoing."
A further 750 people have so far been evacuated from the villages of Fuaa and Kafraya, in Syria's mainly rebel-held Idlib province, as part of the same deal, the ICRC said.
It is unclear how many civilians and rebels are still trapped in eastern Aleppo. But Syrian state-run Ekhbariya TV reported that the Syrian army has used loudspeakers to urge remaining rebels to leave the area, warning that they intend to enter the enclave in the coming hours to "remove remnants of terrorism."
Ekhbariya TV also reported that 51 buses had entered the city Tuesday to transport a number of rebels and their families to Idlib province.
Osama Abo Zaid, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, a rebel alliance backed by Turkey, said he expected the evacuation to conclude Tuesday and claimed that a convoy of about 100 buses was due to leave the city, in addition to some 400 private cars.
"A few civilians are afraid to leave Aleppo and stay in tents in the cold and decided to stay in their houses," Zaid said. He claimed that some stealing and intimidation was taking place during the evacuation.
The Syrian regime is on the verge of retaking Aleppo from rebel groups who have controlled parts of the city since 2012. The government has made significant territorial gains after its forces, backed by airstrikes, entered rebel-held areas in late November
Turkey and Russia helped broker the ceasefire deal that made the recent evacuations possible. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Moscow to discuss the Syrian conflict.
The meeting comes on the heels of the assassination of Russia ambassador Andrey Karlov in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday night.
Lavrov welcomed the "efforts in eastern Aleppo" and recognized "the important role" of the United Nations.
'It has become our opinion there is no military solution to Syrian crisis," the Russian foreign minister said at a press conference following the meeting.
"We welcome the partial evacuation of opposition from a number of location in Syria and advocate a successful and safe completion of this process," he continued.
He said the three countries would work towards "ending hostilities" and "providing an environment for an efficient and conclusive political process in Syria."
The Syrian government has authorized the UN to send an additional 20 staff to eastern Aleppo, where they will monitor the ongoing evacuation, a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.
The move comes after the UN Security Council voted unanimously on Monday to redeploy UN staff to Aleppo to monitor and report on the evacuation of civilians.
The resolution stressed "the importance to ensure the voluntary, safe and dignified passage of all civilians from the eastern districts of AIeppo or other areas, under the monitoring of and coordination by the United Nations and other relevant institutions, to a destination of their choice."
Seven-year-old Bana Alabed, who captured the world's attention with her tweets from Aleppo, was evacuated to Turkey with her family on Monday.
Her mother Fatemah tweeted on Tuesday: "I can't & we can't all be happy until all the remaining people who want to leave are evacuated from East Aleppo."
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