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Syrian army tells rebels in Aleppo to leave or die

Syrian children who were displaced with their family from eastern Aleppo play in the village of Jibreen south of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Aid agencies say that more than 30,000 people have fled rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo that have been under tight siege since July. Over the past two weeks, government forces launched an offensive in which they regained control of nearly half areas that had been held by insurgents in their deepest push since the city became contested in July 2012.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Syrian children who were displaced with their family from eastern Aleppo play in the village of Jibreen south of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Aid agencies say that more than 30,000 people have fled rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo that have been under tight siege since July. Over the past two weeks, government forces launched an offensive in which they regained control of nearly half areas that had been held by insurgents in their deepest push since the city became contested in July 2012.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Syrian children who were displaced with their family from eastern Aleppo play in the village of Jibreen south of Aleppo, Syria, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Aid agencies say that more than 30,000 people have fled rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo that have been under tight siege since July. Over the past two weeks, government forces launched an offensive in which they regained control of nearly half areas that had been held by insurgents in their deepest push since the city became contested in July 2012.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

By Associated Press 2 min read

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) – The Syrian army on Sunday ordered rebels in Aleppo to leave the city or face “inevitable death,” as a series of airstrikes on an opposition-held town elsewhere in the country killed 21 people, including three children.

Pro-government forces have been pushing deeper into besieged eastern Aleppo, taking back neighborhoods the rebels have held since 2012. The opposition has buckled after months of siege and waves of devastating airstrikes, and could soon be driven from Syria’s largest city. It would mark their biggest defeat since the conflict began in 2011.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Samir Suleiman told The Associated Press in Aleppo that government forces would “continue fighting until they restore stability and security to all neighborhoods.” He said the army has already retaken more than half the neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo, and that special forces would lead the battle in the narrow streets of the city’s historic district.

The Pan-Arab Al-Mayadeen station, which has correspondents embedded with the Syrian military, aired footage of plumes of smoke and dust rising over the city, as gunfire and artillery echoed in the background.

Government and allied Lebanese, Iraqi, and Iranian fighters swiftly captured the city’s northeast in recent days, and the opposition’s remaining enclave is collapsing. The U.N. estimates that more than 31,000 people have fled their homes to areas held by the government or Kurdish forces, or deeper into the embattled city.