Rebels slow pro-Assad advances in Aleppo

“That’s the way they see the choice”, he said of the opposition forces.

Staffan de Mistura said in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that “the writing on the wall looks as if eastern Aleppo’s battle is virtually over”, and he hopes the meeting in Geneva will lead to an alternative to the bloodshed that would surely come with the last part of the battle for the city.

Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV channel aired interviews with displaced Aleppo residents it said were arriving from around the country to inspect their homes in the city’s formerly opposition-held neighborhoods. She said details of Saturday’s U.S.

The images from the exit routes, which have also been broadcast live by the Russian military, have been playing almost every day since the ground offensive began dislodging opposition fighters bit by bit from eastern Aleppo neighborhood starting from the north.

“We are at the last steps of the battle for Aleppo. this is…”

The Syrian government now controls 93 percent of Aleppo, Russian news agencies cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying on Saturday, December 10.

Konashenkov said the Russian military is providing civilians who have left eastern Aleppo with temporary accommodation, hot meals and medical assistance. Other fighters could choose separate destinations, including near the Turkish border northeast of Aleppo. Residents described streets littered with bodies as ambulances and rescue workers struggled to keep up.

The rebel defenses have buckled amid the wide-ranging government offensive, which opened a number of fronts at once and was preceded by an intensive aerial campaign.

“The idea of the operation is to do what was done in Chechnya… crush the rebellion and show them that they can do nothing against Russian forces”, said Moscow-based analyst Pavel Felgenhauer. More than 30,000 of the estimated 275,000 residents of the besieged eastern enclave have fled to western Aleppo.

“We believe there may now be around 100,000 civilians in areas under the control of armed opposition groups in eastern Aleppo, with another 30,000 believed to have fled to areas under government control”, he told reporters in Geneva, Switzerland.

In an interview Thursday with Syria’s al-Watan newspaper, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected the offer of a humanitarian ceasefire by the rebel opposition, according to Syrian state media.

Germany said Syrian opposition backers were seeking a political solution, but there was no agreement in Paris on a truce.

Konashenkov added that after the removal of civilians was completed, Syrian government forces would continue to “liberate” eastern Aleppo.

The Observatory said another 2,000 civilians fled Aleppo’s remaining rebel-held districts Saturday.

The rebel groups in the city have previously said they would not leave eastern Aleppo, while demanding safe passage for civilians who wish to leave to areas to the north of Aleppo near the border with Turkey.

The fresh attacks brought to 129 people, including 39 children, the number of people killed by rebel fire on regime-held west Aleppo since November 15. The government has now taken more than three-quarters of the area. People who are guilty of war crimes.