US, Western leaders calling for immediate Aleppo cease-fire

Even if Aleppo falls, “the war will continue”, Kerry said, stressing that there had to be a negotiated settlement.

Parts of the historic Old City neighborhood, which was declared a UNESCO Heritage site 30 years ago, were devastated in the takeover, and witnesses say swaths of the historic sector are now virtually unrecognizable.

Syrian Government forces, backed by Russian Federation, have been bombing rebel-held areas, and aid has been unable to reach it.

Outside of Aleppo, the government and its allies are also putting severe pressure on remaining rebel redoubts.

A rebel official said that they would never abandon Aleppo, their last urban stronghold in the country, after reports that diplomats from the United States and Russian Federation were preparing to discuss facilitating the surrender and evacuation of rebels from territory they have held for years. However, there was no mention of the rebels withdrawing their fighters from Aleppo, a pre-condition set by the Syrian government for talks.

“I don’t know anything, anything about them”, he said in an audio message, his voice breaking, adding that the internet service seemed to have failed.

Brig. Gen. Zeid al-Saleh told state TV that rebels must leave Aleppo or face death. Col. Abo Bakr, a Free Syrian Army representative present at negotiations, said a provisional deal, including a cease-fire and the withdrawal of al-Qaeda linked militants, was agreed to before talks fell apart as government troops continued their sweep through the city.

The Syrian government has ruled out any further truces in Aleppo, and Russian Federation and China on Monday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on a week-long ceasefire. A Syrian army map showed that region held by the rebels in eastern Aleppo was quickly shrinking.

He said these agreements had protected Syrian civilians and infrastructure and allowed former rebels to “return to the bosom of the state”.

In a statement, the Observatory said dozens of bodies littered streets stretching from al-Shaar to the southern part of eastern Aleppo, including the Old City, as a result of ongoing intense government bombardment. The United Nations called the situation “very disastrous”.

The government offensive has killed 372 people in east Aleppo, including 45 children, the Observatory says. “There is no electricity at all, no drinking water”.

A CNN crew saw 25 people cross on foot in 20 minutes, with more coming all the time, while others waited for buses to the town of Jibreen, on the southeastern outskirts of Aleppo, where many of those fleeing are being housed. “There are families who have not had bread for three days”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described all the remaining rebels in Aleppo as “terrorists”, saying they had united around the jihadist group formerly known as the al-Nusra Front.

A fierce offensive launched last month has seen Assad’s forces move closer than ever to retaking all of Aleppo and winning their most important victory yet in the civil war that began in 2011. Instead, rebels asked for safe passage to the countryside in the north of the province of Aleppo. “In fact, we actually believe that Russian Federation bears special responsibility to help bring about a diplomatic solution because of the way they have intervened on behalf of the Assad regime and due to their own stated significant interest and the outcome of the situation inside of Syria”, he said.