![\"aleppo3\"](\"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/aleppo3-300x169.jpg\")
AFP, \u00a0Aleppo, Syria: Rebels in Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians yesterday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a Syrian army offensive.<\/p>\nAFP, \u00a0Aleppo, Syria: Rebels in Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians yesterday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a Syrian army offensive.<\/p>\n
In the face of a blistering assault by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the rebels were reported to have retreated Wednesday from all of Aleppo\u2019s Old City, the latest in a string of territorial losses.<\/p>\n
After three weeks of heavy fighting, regime forces appeared closer than ever to retaking all of Aleppo and winning their most important victory yet in the civil war that began in 2011.<\/p>\n
Rebel fighters have rejected calls to withdraw from the city, which had been divided between government and opposition forces since 2012, but on Wednesday issued a joint statement calling for an \u201cimmediate five-day humanitarian ceasefire\u201d.<\/p>\n
The statement, which rebel representatives told AFP had been approved by all armed opposition factions in the city, called for \u201cthe evacuation of civilians who wish to leave\u201d the city\u2019s east to rebel territory in northern Aleppo province.<\/p>\n
It made no mention of the fate of rebel fighters and urged \u201cnegotiations on the future of the city\u201d.<\/p>\n
Syria\u2019s government has said it will not agree to any ceasefire in Aleppo without a guarantee of a full rebel withdrawal.<\/p>\n
The ceasefire offer came after opposition forces retreated from their last positions in Aleppo\u2019s Old City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its medieval buildings and souk.<\/p>\n
The rebels withdrew from the Old City overnight after the army seized the neighbouring districts of Bab al-Hadid and Aqyul, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said. After seizing areas east of the Old City on Tuesday\u2014including the large and strategic Shaar neighbourhood\u2014the army and allied forces were in control of 75 percent of the territory previously held by rebels in east Aleppo, the Observatory said.<\/p>\n
The offensive showed no signs of slowing and overnight the army carried out heavy shelling of the Al-Zabdiya neighbourhood and other territory still under rebel control in the southeast of the city, the monitor said.<\/p>\n
The assault has prompted a mass exodus of east Aleppo residents and the Observatory said Wednesday that at least 80,000 had now fled their homes.<\/p>\n
It said the figure included residents who had sought refuge in the government-held west of the city and a Kurdish-controlled enclave, but not those who fled to remaining rebel territory.<\/p>\n
Assad\u2019s government has been urging civilians to leave east Aleppo for months and accused rebels of holding residents hostage for use as \u201chuman shields\u201d.<\/p>\n
As they moved into new areas, Syrian soldiers were helping residents to evacuate.
\nInside one bus, evacuees could be seen huddling together, a baby wrapped in heavy blankets fast asleep at his mother\u2019s feet as she sat waiting for the vehicle to leave. \u00a0\u201cThe situation was very difficult,\u201d said Um Abdu, 30, as she left the Bab al-Hadid neighbourhood with her husband, five children, mother and sib\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00adings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lived on edge for the last four days,\u201d she told AFP. \u201cThe gunmen were using us to protect themselves… but then the army came and we were able to leave.\u201dDiplomatic efforts to end the fighting have stalled despite widespread international concern, with Moscow and Washington trading accusations of blame.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday he would work for peace talks to restart.
\n\u201cWe have been trying to find a way to get to the negotiating table… but Assad has never shown any willingness,\u201d Kerry said at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AFP, \u00a0Aleppo, Syria: Rebels in Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians yesterday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a Syrian army offensive. In the face of a blistering assault by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the rebels were reported to have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n