AZAZ, Syria

Syrian regime forces and allied militias on Wednesday violated a ceasefire with opposition groups aimed to evacuate civilians from eastern Aleppo. 

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, regime forces bombed -- around 10:30 local time -- several residential areas in opposition-held neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo. 

With a Turkish mediation, the ceasefire took into effect as of 07:00 p.m. local time on Tuesday with a view to evacuating civilians from eastern Aleppo. 

Under the deal, civilians trapped in the conflict-hit zone will be moved via buses to the western part of Aleppo. Later, opposition fighters will be evacuated. 

Since mid-November, more than 1,138 civilians have been killed in eastern Aleppo in attacks by Syrian regime and Russian warplanes, according to local sources. 

The fierce bombardments have forced most of the city’s hospitals to halt operations, while most academic activities have been indefinitely suspended. 

Recent days have seen the Russia-backed Assad regime reestablish control over parts of Aleppo captured four years ago by armed opposition groups. 

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

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed by the conflict and millions more displaced.