After Aleppo cease-fire deal, rebel pullout delayed

This frame grab from video provided by the Beirut-based pan-Arab satellite channel Al Mayadeen, which is close to the Syrian government, broadcast on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, shows explosions followed by plumes of smoke, in East Aleppo, Syria. A cease-fire deal between rebels and the Syrian government in the city of Aleppo has effectively collapsed with fighter jets resuming their devastating air raids over the opposition's densely crowded enclave in the east of the city. The attacks threaten plans to evacuate the rebels and tens of thousands of civilians out of harm's way, in what would seal the opposition's surrender of the city. (Al Mayadeen TV, via AP) (The Associated Press)

This frame grab from Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016 video, shows damaged buildings near the ancient Umayyad Mosque, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria. A cease-fire deal between rebels and the Syrian government in the city of Aleppo has effectively collapsed, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, with fighter jets resuming their devastating air raids over the opposition's densely crowded enclave in the east of the city. The attacks threaten plans to evacuate the rebels and tens of thousands of civilians out of harm's way, in what would seal the opposition's surrender of the city. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

This frame grab from Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016 video, shows people walking among damaged buildings on a street filled with debris near the ancient Umayyad Mosque, in the Old City of Aleppo, Syria. A cease-fire deal between rebels and the Syrian government in the city of Aleppo has effectively collapsed, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2016, with fighter jets resuming their devastating air raids over the opposition's densely crowded enclave in the east of the city. The attacks threaten plans to evacuate the rebels and tens of thousands of civilians out of harm's way, in what would seal the opposition's surrender of the city. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

The Syrian rebel pullout from their last holdout in the city of Aleppo has been delayed.

The withdrawal was supposed to start early in the morning on Wednesday after the rebels the previous day reached a cease-fire deal to evacuate from eastern Aleppo in what is effectively a surrender — and a defining moment in Syria's civil war.

The pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV broadcast footage of Syrian government buses idling at an agreed-on evacuation point. It's unclear what has caused the delay.

The TV says it expects at least another couple of hours of delay. It says the buses are prepared to move 5,000 fighters and their families to Atareb, an opposition-held town in the northwestern Aleppo countryside.

The Syrian government or the opposition haven't made any announcements about the delay.