Updated December 13, 2016 22:24:19
Syria's Army and its allies have taken full control over all the Aleppo districts abandoned by rebels during their retreat in the city, a Syrian military source says.
Key points:
- Army said to have taken more than half of remaining rebel pocket in Aleppo
- Rebels still hold much of countryside west of Aleppo
- Aid groups plea for sparing of civilian lives
The UN human rights office said it had received reports of Syria's pro-Government forces killing at least 82 civilians as they entered the last remaining rebel strongholds in eastern Aleppo.
Spokesman Rupert Colville said the reports recount pro-Government forces entering homes and killing some civilians "on the spot" in the former rebel enclave.
"The reports we had are of people being shot in the street trying to flee and shot in their homes," Mr Colville said.
"In all as of yesterday evening we have received reports of pro-Government forces killing least 82 civilians, including 11 women and 13 children, in four different neighbourhoods."
UN humanitarian spokesman Jens Laerke described the situation as looking like a "complete meltdown of humanity in Aleppo".
France called on the UN to use all its mechanisms to determine what was happening in Aleppo, also warning Russia it risked being complicit in acts of "vengeance and terror".
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country would intensify talks with Russia and other countries on Aleppo, adding that a ceasefire was needed to allow civilians to be evacuated.
"Efforts are still underway to open a corridor for the rebels and civilians in Aleppo, and evacuate them from the region," a Turkish official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pleas to help civilians
The commander of a rebel group in Aleppo urged the US and Turkey to move quickly to save civilians.
"My message is that they must take a decision to save these people who are stuck here, these civilians, these children," Abu Ali Saqour said.
"No state has helped these people in any way, my message to the world is to get these people out of this disaster-stricken city, at least the civilians."
On Monday (local time), rebel defences collapsed, leading to a broad Army advance across more than half of the remaining opposition pocket in Aleppo and a retreat of rebel fighters to a few districts on the west bank of the city's river.
Recapturing the entire rebel pocket of Aleppo will constitute the biggest battlefield victory yet for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his military coalition of Russia's air force, Iran and Shiite militias.
For rebels, it will mark a sobering loss and leave them without a significant presence in any of Syria's main cities.
They still hold much of the countryside west of Aleppo and the province of Idlib, also in north-west Syria.
Front lines quickly shifting
After days of intense bombardment of rebel-held areas, the rate of shelling and air strikes dropped considerably late on Monday and through the night, a Reuters reporter in the city said.
The military official said the rebels were fleeing "in a state of panic", but a Turkey-based official with the Jabha Shamiya insurgent group in Aleppo said late on Monday they had established a new front line along the river.
Celebrations on the Government side of the divided city lasted into Monday night, with the Reuters reporter there describing the bullets coming "like rainfall" as fighters shot into the air in triumph.
As the frontlines quickly shifted on Monday, however, thousands more people fled the fighting, carrying what possessions they could, before a heavy rainstorm began during the night.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) issued a plea in an emailed statement early on Monday for all sides to spare civilian life.
"As the battle reaches new peaks and the area is plunged into chaos, thousands with no part in the violence have literally nowhere safe to run," the ICRC statement said.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon was alarmed by unverified reports of atrocities in the wake of the Army's advance, his spokesman said.
Zakaria Malahifji, another Turkey-based official for the Fastaqim rebel group fighting in Aleppo said early on Tuesday that there had been no further international contacts over a proposal to spare the city by allowing fighters to withdraw.
Reuters/AP
First posted December 13, 2016 19:21:31
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