Aleppo exodus grows as thousands more leave

More than 20,000 civilians left eastern Aleppo and over 1,200 rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad laid down their arms on Saturday, the Russian defence ministry said.

• City under siege: Inside the battle for Aleppo
• Civilians stream out of crumbling rebel enclave in Aleppo

The number of peopleleaving through humanitarian corridors to areas controlled by the Syrian government has grownto about 50,000 over the past two days, ministry spokesmanIgorKonashenkov said.

"Syrian authorities control 93 per cent of the city today," Konashenkovsaid in a video briefing by the ministry, which released aerial images of streams of people pouring along Aleppo's narrow streets.

Western news media outlets could not independently verify how much of Syria's second largest city was now under government control.

Syrian's military and Russian warplanes bombarded rebel-held districts of Aleppo on Saturday as Damascus's allies said victory was near, but insurgents fought back and army advances halted after rapid gains during the week.

The insurgents are holed out in a handful of areas mostlysouth of the historic Old City, having lost nearlythree-quarters of territory they controlled for years in thespace of around two weeks.

While thousands of people have left rebel districts for government-held areas,others have goneto areas under rebel
control fearing arrest and reprisals by government forces.

Plea for safe passage

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Russia to show "alittle grace" when American and Russian officials meet in Genevalater on Saturday to try to reach a deal enabling civilians andfighters to leave the besieged city of Aleppo.

"Fighters ... don't trust that if they agreed to leave totry to save Aleppo that it will save Aleppo and they will be unharmed," Kerry told reporters in Paris after a meeting ofcountries opposed to Assad.

"The choice for many of them ... is to die in Aleppo, die in [neighbouring]Idlib, but die," he added.

The United States said it was meeting a Russian team in Geneva to find a way to save lives, but an agreement looked elusive as the two countries, which back opposing sides, have repeatedly failed to strike a deal to allow evacuations and help aid deliveries.

• Road to Aleppo paved with many things peace is not one of them

Aleppo's recapture would deal a major blow to rebels who have fought to unseat President Bashar al-Assad in anearly six-year war, whichhas killed more than 300,000 people and made more than 11 million homeless.