an absolutely shocking state so a small glimmer of hope there are now twenty nine desperately children who should start receiving medical attention very see. syrian government forces have laid siege to the eastern part of quarter for the last four years now. not far from the capital damascus it s one of the last rebel strongholds in the country activists accuse government forces of trying to starve out any resistance by blocking deliveries of food fuel and medicine the united nations says dozens of people have died in the suburb after waiting months for medical evacuation. turkey claims it used its clout to organize the latest evacuation deal but president richard sipe over one still insists that asset should have no part in syria s post conflict future. said you to make first of all it is impossible to continue with our sad why how can we embrace the future with the syrian president who was killed
ongoing in those areas, several neighborhoods remain under the control of isis militants. there have been a lot of questions, natalie, about that evacuation deal that we heard announced by the coalition, the u.s. led coalition that distanced itself from that evacuation deal, saying that it was brokered by the local council and tribal leaders in an arrangement between them and isis militants for the evacuation of civilians and local isis militants. now, what we re hearing from the syrian democratic forces, that umbrella group that is primarily made up of kurdish militias and some arab militias, they are saying that they have just launched what they are describing as a new phase to recapture those several neighborhoods that are left under isis control, they say those are the isis militants who have refused to surrender. according to the statement that
we received a short time ago, posted by the sdf, they say that this new phase is aimed at recapturing those neighborhoods where those isis militants, foreign and local, who refused to surrender, remain, and they say that that evacuation deal that it had been completed, they say that civilians have been the remaining civilians had been evacuated. we cannot verify that ourselves if there are any civilians left in that city, very hard to tell at this point. and they say that 275 isis militants and their family members have surrendered. of course, we need to wait and see, but it would seem at this point, natalie, the battle might be nearing an end at some point, but the fighting is really not over. the u.s.-led coalition in their statements on saturday refusing to put a timeline on how long they think that fighting is going to take go on for. we re talking about some really hard core fighters who remain
month ago that we heard that 80% of raqqah had been recaptured. so the u.s. led coalition is really not putting a timeline on this. they expect some intense fighting to continue, but on the other hand, we re hearing different reports from the groups fighting on the ground, expecting this to possibly come to an end in the coming days, perhaps. now, of course, there is also this is coming at the same time we heard about this agreement where the evacuation of isis militants announced yesterday by the u.s. led coalition who distanced themselves from this agreement saying that they were not a part of it, they re not involved in it, but it was brokered by the local raqqah an agreement between them and isis militants in the city. under the evacuation deal, they say aims to minimize civilian casualties, there have been reports of a staggering death toll of civilians during the months of the fighting, has been
miscalculation could lead to escalation, even if both parties don t want to escalate. that s my earlier conversation. i m going to turn it over now to george howell and natalie allen for more of the world s news from cnn world headquarters. ivan, thank you. still ahead, they were finally leaving their homes when they were attacked. we ll tell you about the blast that could end the fragile evacuation deal in syria. also, turkey could make history this day as voters go to the polls. we ll take you live toist istan, tell you what that is about. you have access to in-depth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. it s like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are.