Thousands flee as Syrian army pushes into east Aleppo

“Save the civilian population”, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in calling for safe passage for civilians.

The Russian Defense Ministry says Syrian government troops have taken control over almost half of the rebel-held Syrian city of Aleppo in a new offensive.

Syrian activists say at least 21 people have been killed in an artillery barrage on a housing area for those displaced in rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

The UN Security Council is set to hold another emergency session on the crisis in Aleppo, Syria, on November 30 as a UN official called the situation there a “descent into hell”.

Syrian government forces and their allies clashed with rebels in southeast Aleppo on Wednesday, a rebel official and a monitor said, as Damascus and its allies try to build on major gains in the city.

France and Britain, meanwhile, said they would submit to the UN Security Council a resolution for sanctions against Damascus for using chemical weapons.

Rebels face one of their gravest moments of the war after pro-government forces routed fighters over the past few days from more than a third of the territory they controlled in the city.

However, the fighting has escalated after the army began a new offensive last week, bringing more eastern Aleppo districts close to the front line as rescue and ambulance workers say their vehicles and equipment are running out of fuel.

Many civilians in the stricken areas, especially Shaar district, have been left with no escape route to government-controlled parts of Aleppo. Many residents and rights groups have expressed fear of revenge or retaliation attacks during the government advances that have cleaved the territory held by opposition fighters since 2012.

Renewed airstrikes killed at least 10 civilians as they fled government advances Tuesday in Syria’s besieged eastern part of Aleppo, opposition groups reported as troops continued to target the enclave controlled by rebel groups.

Government forces stepped up their offensive two weeks ago and broke through the rebel lines on Saturday.

Residents and activists in the remaining rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo described scenes of civilians crowded into a shrinking area of bombed out buildings, some desperately huddled in alleyways or empty residences as bombs rained down. The Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, put the death toll at 25 and said the strike targeted civilians fleeing the district.

Geneva – Up to 16,000 civilians have fled strife-torn parts of eastern Aleppo as the rebels lost all of the northern neighborhoods of their stronghold, the United Nations said Tuesday, describing the situation as “chilling”.

The U.N. Humanitarian Chief Stephen O’Brien called the situation in Aleppo “deeply alarming and chilling”. “Really, it was so, so terrible”, said Aref al-Aref, a nurse and photographer in a rebel-held part of the city.

Analysts say the Russian intervention, the fierce fighting of Hezbollah and Iranian fighters were the main reasons behind tilting the balance in Aleppo in favor of the Syrian government forces.

The official’s statements were in line with a previous timetable which pro-Damascus sources had said was drawn up to mitigate the risks of any shift in USA policy towards the war in Syria.

State news agency SANA said eight civilians including two children had been killed in rebel fire on several districts in the city’s west on Wednesday. Ultimately, their decision was “steadfastness”, said Bassam Haj Mustafa, spokesman for the Nour al-Din al-Zinki forces, one of the rebel groups.

The army has urged Aleppo’s rebel factions to accept a surrender under which they would abandon the city.