The operation has begun to evacuate civilians from the besieged Syrian city of Homs where a UN-brokered ceasefire has been agreed to take place over the next three days.<br /><br />Women, children and the elderly who want to leave are being bussed to safety <br /><br />Regional authorities were expecting about 200 people to leave the old city on Friday in the first stage of the <br />humanitarian deal.<br /><br />It also includes the delivery of aid to those who choose to stay. This is due to begin on Saturday.<br /><br />The siege has gone on for more than 18 months with reports of up to 2,500 people trapped inside.<br /><br />Elsewhere in Syria the violence continues.<br /><br />Activists denounce what they say has been a further deadly deluge of so-called barrel bombs dropped by government forces on the city of Aleppo.<br /><br />Many consider it a war crime to unleash these bombs – oil drums or cylinders packed with explosives and metal fragments – in civilian areas.
