Thousands flee Syria’s Aleppo as Assad nears victory

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, third left, and France's Foreign Minister Jean Marc Ayrault, fifth left, attend a meeting with others on Syria in Paris, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. Kerry, Ayrault and leading diplomats are trying to find solutions for Syria's desperate opposition, as Syrian government forces squeeze rebels out of Aleppo after a devastating blitz. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, third left, and France's Foreign Minister Jean Marc Ayrault, fifth left, attend a meeting with others on Syria in Paris, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016. Kerry, Ayrault and leading diplomats are trying to find solutions for Syria's desperate opposition, as Syrian government forces squeeze rebels out of Aleppo after a devastating blitz. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool)

By Associated Press December 10, 2016 2 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – Some 50,000 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo over the past two days in a “constant stream,” Russia said Saturday, as Syrian government forces close in on the last pocket of opposition control in the northern city.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that Syrian troops have suspended their offensive to allow for the evacuation of civilians, but the activist-run Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says heavy clashes are still underway.

Konashenkov said that on Saturday alone more than 20,000 civilians left rebel-controlled Aleppo districts through humanitarian corridors. The military is live streaming images from drones showing the exit.

Backed by Russia and other allies, Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces have driven the rebels from nearly all of eastern Aleppo, which was captured by the opposition in 2012.

The U.N. human rights office has expressed concern about reports that hundreds of men have vanished after crossing from eastern Aleppo into government-controlled areas.