A total of around 50,000 people are expected to be evacuated from eastern Aleppo in Syria in an operation expected to be completed within two to three days, a senior Turkish official told Reuters on Thursday.

An operation to evacuate thousands of civilians and fighters from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo is under way, part of a ceasefire deal that would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.