DAMASCUS (Dispatches) – The UN human rights office says foreign-backed terrorists are blocking civilians from fleeing eastern parts of the Syrian city of Aleppo to the government-held sector.
"Some of the civilians who are attempting to flee are reportedly being blocked by armed opposition groups,” rights office spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
The statement came hours after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Syrian government troops suspended their active operations in Aleppo to allow the evacuation of civilians.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that the around 8,500 civilians have been evacuated from the terrorists-held eastern side of Aleppo via humanitarian corridors, amid ongoing clean-up operations in the northwestern Syrian city.
There were 2,934 children among those evacuated from the occupied parts of Aleppo over the past 24 hours, the statement added.
Syrian forces have retaken large parts of eastern Aleppo in recent days and are on course to drive terrorists out of the area.
The Russian military said its sappers have cleared mines from six hectares of Aleppo, allowing the restoration of a water facility, two power stations, two mosques and two schools.
Lavrov said Aleppo will continue to come under bombardment as long as terrorists stay in the city.
Moscow also warned the U.S. against easing its alleged arms embargo against Syria-based terrorists, saying the move would pose a threat to the entire Middle East.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said U.S. weapons could end up in wrong hands if Washington goes ahead with the plan to lift restrictions on arms the deliveries to the so-called "moderate” militants.
The Syrian army troops and their allied forces are now in control of about 85 percent of terrorist-held eastern part of Aleppo as they press ahead an all-out offensive to fully liberate the city.
Russia and Syria oppose lengthy pauses in the Aleppo battle, arguing that terrorists may take advantage of the situation and rebuild their strength.
Moscow also insists that all terrorists operating in eastern Aleppo must leave the area as part of any truce deal, saying those who refuse to do so would be regarded as terrorists.
Separately, it was reported that Turkish warplanes had destroyed 10 targets allegedly belonging to the Takfiri terror group of Daesh in northern Syria.
Using Turkish support, terrorists with the foreign-backed so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) were also said to have seized control of a highway between the key towns of al-Bab and Manbij in the area.