BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria and its allies aim to drive rebels from Aleppo before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. President, a senior official in the pro-Damascus military alliance said, as pro-government forces surged to their biggest victories in the city for years.

A Syrian national flag flutters near a general view of eastern Aleppo after Syrian government soldiers took control of al-Sakhour neigbourhood in Aleppo, Syria in this handout picture provided by SANA on November 28, 2016. SANA/Handout via REUTERS

Rebels face one of their gravest moments of the war after pro-government forces routed fighters over the past few days from more than a third of the territory they controlled in the city. Thousands of civilians have fled for safety.

The pro-government official, who declined to be identified in order to speak freely, nevertheless indicated that the next phase of the campaign could be more difficult as the army and its allies seek to capture more densely populated areas.

Rebel fighters fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave on Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.

The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban center of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.

Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.

As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city before the civil war.

Government forces backed by Shi’ite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week. The senior, pro-Assad official said the rebel lines had collapsed more quickly than expected.

“The Russians want to complete the operation before Trump takes power,” said the official, repeating a previous timetable which pro-Damascus sources had said was drawn up to mitigate the risks of any shift in U.S. policy towards the war in Syria.

The Russian Defence Ministry did not immediately respond when asked whether it had drawn up such a timeline.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has indicated that he may abandon support for Syrian rebels who have received military aid from states including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and could even cooperate with Russia against Islamic State in Syria.

The United States has offered aid including military support to some rebel groups under President Barack Obama, though the rebels have always said this backing has fallen well short of what they need against better armed government forces.

THE WEST “CAN’T DO ANYTHING”

The rebel official said the outgoing U.S. administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were “trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can’t do anything”, he said.

France, another backer of the opposition, called for an immediate U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss Aleppo.

“More than ever before, we need to urgently put in place means to end the hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid to get through unhindered,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.

Russia has consistently blocked attempts by Western states to take action in the Security Council against Damascus.

Accounts from eastern Aleppo, where the United Nations says at least 250,000 civilians are trapped with no access to the outside world, point to a dire humanitarian situation. People have been forced to scavenge in the garbage for food as aid supplies have run out, and all the hospitals in eastern Aleppo have been repeatedly bombed.

The civil defense rescue service that operates in eastern Aleppo said on Monday it had nearly run out fuel to power the equipment it has been using to pull people from the rubble of bombed-out buildings.

Pummeled by air strikes, artillery and ground attacks, the rebels were forced on Monday to withdraw to more defensible lines along a highway that runs through Aleppo, hoping that it would be harder for the government side to make further gains.

The rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilize new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-government militias that sought to advance from the south.

FIERCE BATTLES

“There is no progress but the bombardment and battles remain fierce, particularly in Aziza” in southeastern Aleppo, said the official with the Jabha Shamiya rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army banner. “Yesterday evening there was a big mobilization by Iranian militias in Aziza,” the official added.

The government and its allies gradually besieged the rebel-held sector of Aleppo this year before abandoning a ceasefire to launch a fierce assault in September.

The latest fighting has forced thousands to flee. Some have crossed the frontline to government-held areas, others have sought refuge in a Kurdish-controlled part of the city, and many more have fled deeper into the remaining rebel-held area.

Air strikes on Bab al-Nairab, a district in the rebel-held area, killed at least 10 people and left dozens more wounded or missing, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the civil defense rescue service said. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

The civil defense said government planes struck as people were trying to flee the neighborhood on foot, killing 25.

The United Nations humanitarian chief and relief coordinator said up to 16,000 people had been displaced from eastern Aleppo.

A U.N. spokesman said that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 10,000 people had moved into government-held western Aleppo, and 4,000-6,000 had moved into the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud district. Rebels say thousands more have moved deeper into the areas still held by the opposition.

The U.N. envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he could not say how long eastern Aleppo would hold out.

“Clearly, I cannot deny - this is a military acceleration and I can’t tell you how long eastern Aleppo will last,” he told the European Parliament.

Russia said that the army’s breakthrough in Aleppo had dramatically altered the situation on the ground, allowing more than 80,000 civilians to access humanitarian aid after years of what it described as being used by militants as human shields.

“During the last 24 hours, thanks to very well-prepared and careful actions, Syrian soldiers were able to radically change the situation,” Major-General Igor Konashenkov, a defense ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

“Practically half of the territory occupied by rebels in recent years in the eastern part of Aleppo has been completely liberated.”

Slideshow (6 Images)

A medic in eastern Aleppo who gave his name as Abu al-Abbas said however there was “intense fear of collective annihilation”.

“This week I’ve changed locations three times,” he added, speaking on Monday using a social networking site. “In the shelter, we had dead people who we couldn’t take out because the bombardment was so intense,” he said. </s> Syrian families, fleeing from various eastern districts of Aleppo, carry their belongings on Tuesday in the government-held eastern neighbourhood of Jabal Badro, as they walk towards government-controlled western Aleppo, as the Syrian government offensive to recapture rebel-held Aleppo has prompted an exodus of civilians (AFP photo)

BEIRUT — Syria and its allies aim to drive rebels from Aleppo before Donald Trump takes office as US president, a senior official in the pro-Damascus military alliance said, as pro-government forces surged to their biggest victories in the city for years.

Rebels face one of their gravest moments of the war after pro-government forces routed fighters over the past few days from more than a third of the territory they controlled in the city. Thousands of civilians have fled for safety.

The pro-government official, who declined to be identified in order to speak freely, nevertheless indicated that the next phase of the campaign could be more difficult as the army and its allies seek to capture more densely populated areas.

Rebel fighters fought fiercely to stop government forces advancing deeper into the opposition-held enclave on Tuesday, confronting pro-Assad militias who sought to move into the area from the southeast, a rebel official said.

The attack on eastern Aleppo threatens to snuff out the most important urban centre of the revolt against President Bashar Assad, who has been firmly on the offensive for more than a year thanks to Russian and Iranian military support.

Capturing rebel-held eastern Aleppo would be the biggest victory to date for Assad in the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since it arose out of protests against his rule nearly six years ago.

As Russia and Iran have stuck steadfastly by Assad, the rebels say their foreign backers including the United States have left them to their fate in their besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city before the civil war.

Government forces backed by Shiite militias from Iran, Lebanon and Iraq punched into the rebel-held area from the northeast last week. The senior, pro-Assad official said the rebel lines had collapsed more quickly than expected.

“The Russians want to complete the operation before Trump takes power,” said the official, repeating a previous timetable which pro-Damascus sources had said was drawn up to mitigate the risks of any shift in US policy towards the war in Syria.

The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond when asked whether it had drawn up such a timeline.

Trump, who takes office on January 20, has indicated that he may abandon support for Syrian rebels who have received military aid from states including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar and could even cooperate with Russia against Daesh in Syria.

The United States has offered aid including military support to some rebel groups under President Barack Obama, though the rebels have always said this backing has fallen well short of what they need against better armed government forces.

The rebel official said the outgoing US administration was paying little attention to Syria. Assad and his allies were “trying to exploit the current circumstances, unfortunately, and the Western states can’t do anything”, he said.

France, another backer of the opposition, called for an immediate UN Security Council meeting to discuss Aleppo.

“More than ever before, we need to urgently put in place means to end the hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid to get through unhindered,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.

Russia has consistently blocked attempts by Western states to take action in the Security Council against Damascus.

Accounts from eastern Aleppo, where the United Nations says at least 250,000 civilians are trapped with no access to the outside world, point to a dire humanitarian situation. People have been forced to scavenge in the garbage for food as aid supplies have run out, and all the hospitals in eastern Aleppo have been repeatedly bombed.

The civil defence rescue service that operates in eastern Aleppo said on Monday it had nearly run out fuel to power the equipment it has been using to pull people from the rubble of bombed-out buildings.

Pummelled by air strikes, artillery and ground attacks, the rebels were forced on Monday to withdraw to more defensible lines along a highway that runs through Aleppo, hoping that it would be harder for the government side to make further gains.

The rebel official with one of the main Aleppo rebel groups said the opposition fighters had managed to stabilise new frontlines, but were fighting to stop pro-government militias that sought to advance from the south.

“There is no progress but the bombardment and battles remain fierce, particularly in Aziza” in southeastern Aleppo, said the official with the Jabha Shamiya rebel group, which fights under the Free Syrian Army banner. “Yesterday evening there was a big mobilisation by Iranian militias in Aziza,” the official added.

The government and its allies gradually besieged the rebel-held sector of Aleppo this year before abandoning a ceasefire to launch a fierce assault in September.

The latest fighting has forced thousands to flee. Some have crossed the frontline to government-held areas, others have sought refuge in a Kurdish-controlled part of the city, and many more have fled deeper into the remaining rebel-held area.

Air strikes on Bab Al Nairab, a district in the rebel-held area, killed at least 10 people and left dozens more wounded or missing, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the civil defence rescue service said. The Syrian military could not be reached for comment.

The civil defence said government planes struck as people were trying to flee the neighbourhood on foot, killing 25.

The United Nations humanitarian chief and relief coordinator said up to 16,000 people had been displaced from eastern Aleppo.

A UN spokesman said that according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent 10,000 people had moved into government-held western Aleppo, and 4,000-6,000 had moved into the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsoud district. Rebels say thousands more have moved deeper into the areas still held by the opposition.

The UN envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said he could not say how long eastern Aleppo would hold out.

“Clearly, I cannot deny — this is a military acceleration and I can’t tell you how long eastern Aleppo will last,” he told the European parliament.

Russia said that the army’s breakthrough in Aleppo had dramatically altered the situation on the ground, allowing more than 80,000 civilians to access humanitarian aid after years of what it described as being used by militants as human shields.

“During the last 24 hours, thanks to very well-prepared and careful actions, Syrian soldiers were able to radically change the situation,” Major General Igor Konashenkov, a defence ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

“Practically half of the territory occupied by rebels in recent years in the eastern part of Aleppo has been completely liberated.

A medic in eastern Aleppo who gave his name as Abu Al Abbas said however there was “intense fear of collective annihilation”.

“This week I’ve changed locations three times,” he added, speaking on Monday using a social networking site. “In the shelter, we had dead people who we couldn’t take out because the bombardment was so intense,” he said. </s> U.S.-backed fighters in Syria declared victory over Islamic State on Saturday, marking the apparent end of a years-long global campaign to break the extremist group's hold on the region.

The capture of ISIS' last, tiny enclave in the country's south brings its self-proclaimed caliphate to territorial defeat.

"Syrian Democratic Forces declare total elimination of so-called caliphate" spokesman Mustafa Bali said on Twitter early Saturday.

The battle for Baghouz, the group's last holdout and all that remained of the vast territory that it once ruled in Syria and Iraq, had dragged on for more than 10 weeks — far longer than either the U.S. military or their allies on the ground had predicted.

President Donald Trump has been teasing the victory for days.

On Friday, the White House said the Department of Defense had declared that the militant group no longer held any territory in Syria. At around the same time, Trump tweeted that there was "nothing to admire" about ISIS.

The militants, meanwhile, had been putting up a desperate fight, and the American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes had held off declaring victory.

At a victory ceremony near Baghouz on Saturday, a brass band in red and gold uniforms played the American national anthem in front of a stars and stripes flag and yellow militia banners. SDF leaders including both men and women sat watching.

The SDF had repeatedly paused its final push to capture the village in order to allow more than 30,000 civilians, many of them the wives and families of foreign fighters, to be evacuated.

Bali said they had caught several militants trying to flee among the civilians. Others had handed themselves over.

Their fate has befuddled foreign governments, with few ready to repatriate citizens who pledged allegiance to a group sworn to their destruction, but who might be hard to legally prosecute.

Trump has called on European countries to take back captured Islamic State fighters currently in U.S. custody as the military prepares for a withdrawal.

But a full withdrawal is looking less certain despite the fall of ISIS.

Trump recently told members of Congress in a letter obtained by NBC News that he now agrees "100%" with keeping a military presence in Syria.

It's a major shift from Trump's announcement of a full withdrawal in December, which blindsided U.S. allies as well as many in Washington and prompted the resignation of then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

"We have won against ISIS. We have beaten them and we have beaten them badly," Trump said in a December video posted on Twitter. "We have taken back the land and now it's time for our troops to come back home."

The White House has since said that a peacekeeping group of about 200 troops will remain in Syria "for some period of time."

In the recent letter reiterating that presence, Trump said, "[We] seek to ensure that all of the gains made in Syria are not lost, that ISIS never returns."

The move appears to heed warnings that the symbolic end of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's deathly project may not mean the threats posed by ISIS will cease.

A senior U.S. diplomat said Saturday the territorial defeat of the group is a "critical milestone" that delivers a crushing and strategic blow to the extremist group.

However William Roebuck, the State Department's official in charge of Syria, added that the campaign against ISIS is not over, saying the group remains a significant threat in the region.

"We still have much work to do to achieve an enduring defeat," Roebuck said at a ceremony in eastern Syria's al-Omar oil field base.

A recent Pentagon report found the group could reclaim territory in months and is currently regrouping in Iraq faster than in Syria, underscoring the fluid nature of the security situation in the Middle East.

"Currently, ISIS is regenerating key functions and capabilities more quickly in Iraq than in Syria, but absent sustained [counterterrorism] pressure, ISIS could likely resurge in Syria within six to 12 months," according to the Department of Defense Inspector General Quarterly Report about Operation Inherent Resolve.

The U.S. believes Baghdadi, the group's leader, is in Iraq. He stood at the pulpit of the great medieval mosque in Mosul in 2014 to declare himself caliph, sovereign over all Muslims.

The group no longer controls any territory in Syria or Iraq, but continues to carry out insurgent attacks in both countries. It also maintains affiliates in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Afghanistan and elsewhere. </s> Syria's government says it has recaptured another entire district of Aleppo from rebels, but opposition fighters have denied the claim and vowed to continue their fight against a brutal Russia-backed government offensive.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on November 30 that they had taken full control of the Sheikh Saeed district on the southern edge of rebel-controlled eastern Aleppo.

But the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted rebel fighters who said they still controlled a third of the Sheikh Saeed neighborhood.

During the past week, rebel fighters have lost a third of the areas in eastern Aleppo that they had controlled since 2012, cutting their urban stronghold in half and bringing them to the brink of a catastrophic defeat.

The gains by the Syrian Army and its allies have led to a massive human exodus with some 50,000 civilians fleeing decimated neighborhoods near the rapidly shifting front lines.

Syrian military officials are denying a report by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that government forces were detaining and questioning hundreds of civilians fleeing rebel-held areas for the comparative safety of state-controlled districts.

The observatory also said Syrian and Russian air strikes were intensifying on November 30 in the city center, with at least 45 civilians killed.

'Slow-Motion Descent Into Hell'

The UN Security Council is set to hold another emergency session on the crisis in Aleppo on November 30.

Aleppo's eastern districts have been under government siege for more than four months, with international aid stocks exhausted and food supplies running low.

World Food Program spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said civilians were enduring a "slow-motion descent into hell."

And France's UN ambassador, Francois Delattre, called for international action, but it was unclear what that would entail and whether it would succeed where so many previous efforts have failed.

"France and its partners cannot remain silent in the face of what could be one of the biggest massacres of civilian population since World War II," Delattre said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Moscow was hoping that the situation in Aleppo can be resolved by the end of the year.

"We need to force these terrorists out" in the same way as Islamic State fighters need to be forced out in their Syrian stronghold of Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying on November 30.

Bogdanov was also quoted by TASS as saying Moscow had been in contact with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's team over Syria.

Trump is to take office in January.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, AP, TASS, and dpa </s> The offensive began hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria over the phone and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against terrorism.

Russia announced a major air offensive in Syria on Tuesday as Syrian opposition activists reported the first airstrikes in three weeks in the besieged, rebel-held part of the northern city of Aleppo.

The offensive began hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump discussed Syria over the phone and agreed on the need to combine efforts in the fight against what the Kremlin called their No. 1 enemy “international terrorism and extremism.”

U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration has been trying for months to negotiate a cease-fire in Aleppo, the epicenter of the war between President Bashar Assad and rebels fighting to topple him, some of whom receive U.S. aid. Al-Qaeda’s local affiliate fights alongside the rebels, but the Islamic State group has no presence in Aleppo.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a meeting with Mr. Putin on Tuesday that the operation involves aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which made a much-publicised trip to Syria’s shores last month. He said Russian warplanes will target ammunition depots, training camps and armaments factories in the rebel-held province of Idlib and the central province of Homs. He did not immediately mention Aleppo.

The activists reported strikes in all three places. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said missiles fired from Russian warships in the Mediterranean have struck areas in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. The Observatory said airstrikes also struck three neighborhoods in Aleppo city, but had no immediate word on casualties.

Activist Baraa al-Halaby, who is based in eastern Aleppo, said via text messages that warplanes are firing missiles and helicopters are dropping barrel bombs on the eastern part of Syria’s largest city.

“People are scared. The bombardment is intense,” al-Halaby wrote.

In mid-October, Russia said it would halt weeks of deadly airstrikes to allow rebels and supporters to leave eastern Aleppo. The rebels refused to take up the offer and the United Nations failed to negotiate the delivery of aid into the besieged area.

On Saturday, government troops repelled a rebel offensive on western parts of Aleppo that was designed to break the siege on the opposition-held east. Aleppo has been contested since 2012.

The government siege has left an estimated 275,000 people trapped, with no aid allowed in since July, amid a punishing bombing campaign.

In Geneva, meanwhile, two U.N. agencies said food production in Syria has shrunk to “an all—time low,” threatening to drive more people from their homes after 5-1/2 years of war.

The World Food Program and the Food and Agricultural Organization say factors like rising prices, poor weather, general instability and the lack of fertilizer and seeds could force some farmers to stop producing.

A joint report released Tuesday says the planting area in the 2015—2016 season was the smallest ever in zones controlled by the government, ethnic Kurds and the armed opposition. WFP spokeswoman Bettina Luescher said information was lacking about areas controlled by IS.

FAO regional representative Abdessalam Ould Ahmed said 80 percent of households lack food or money to buy it. </s> Syrian pro-regime fighters wave from a truck as they pass civilians fleeing the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood in eastern Aleppo on Tuesday, December 13, as government troops continue their advance on rebel-controlled areas. The fall of Aleppo -- held by rebels for the past four years -- would be the opposition's worst defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities.

A woman reacts as she evacuates the Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood with her two children on December 13, after government forces took control of the area. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon expressed alarm over "reports of atrocities against a large number of civilians, including women and children" in a statement.

Syrians in a government-held district of Aleppo celebrate on Monday, December 12, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of the eastern part of the city in the face of new army advances.

Pro-government forces patrol the al-Saleheen neighborhood in eastern Aleppo on December 12 after retaking the area from rebels. The UN says it has received "deeply disturbing" reports of atrocities being committed against civilians in the neighborhood.

Rebels in southeastern Aleppo target government forces with anti-aircraft weaponry on December 12. Activists say anyone with links to the rebels who seized control of the enclave in 2012 is being hunted down.

Civilians flee the Sukkari neighborhood for more secure rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo on December 12. It's believed that tens of thousands of civilians are still cornered in the embattled areas of eastern Aleppo.

Pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's Sheikh Saeed district on December 12, after it was recaptured from rebel forces. The Syrian army initiated its operation in November to take back the remaining rebel-held areas of the city.

In this handout photo from the International Committee for the Red Cross, women displaced from eastern Aleppo gather at a shelter in the village of Jibreen, south of Aleppo, on December 12.

Smoke rises from the former rebel-held district of Bustan al-Qasr in Aleppo, on December 12, during the Syrian government's operation to take control of the city.

Civilians from eastern Aleppo stream into a government checkpoint at the al-Hawoz street roundabout on Saturday, December 10. Humanitarian volunteers in Aleppo have issued a desperate plea for help and safe passage for the estimated 100,000 civilians.

Rebel fighters take aim at pro-government positions in Aleppo on Friday, December 9. Rebel groups held eastern Aleppo for more than four years after the Arab Spring uprising and a Syrian regime siege on the area had essentially cut it off from the outside world, sparking a humanitarian crisis there. </s> The US Defense Department said on Friday that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) no longer holds any territory in Syria, according to a White House spokeswoman.

US Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan briefed President Donald Trump as he was travelling to Florida on Air Force One, spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

She said that the "territorial caliphate has been eliminated in Syria". Responding to a question regarding whether the armed group's territory had be "100 percent" eliminated, Sanders said "yes".

She directed other questions regarding the announcement to the Pentagon.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has not commented on the White House's announcement.

Earlier on Friday, the SDF said it had captured most of ISIL's last enclave in Baghouz, but there were still pockets of ISIL fighters.

The SDF has been battling for weeks to defeat ISIL in Baghouz in southeastern Syria at the Iraqi border. It was all that remained of the territory the armed group ruled, which once spanned a third of Syria and Iraq.

A Reuters journalist in Baghouz heard air strikes there on Friday afternoon and saw smoke rising.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, DC, said that difficulty, however, is that "ISIL hasn't gone away and everyone knows that".

"Trump will undoubtedly get the victory that he wanted ... but the group hasn't gone away," Fisher said.

Shortly after Sanders made the comments to reporters, Trump tweeted, "ISIS uses the internet better than almost anyone, but for all of those susceptible to ISIS propaganda, they are now being beaten badly at every level."

Trump had been teasing Friday's announcement for days. On Wednesday, he said the group would be "gone by tonight", showing reporters two maps that he claimed to show the reduction of ISIL's territory since he was elected president in 2016.

In December, Trump unexpectedly announced that he was pulling all 2,000 American troops out of Syria, declaring that ISIL had been defeated.

He walked back on that announcement, however, as military generals and politicians expressed fear that such a move would allow the group to re-emerge. He was then persuaded to leave about 400 troops in Syria. </s> Russia and the United States will continue talks on Aleppo and evacuation of civilians after the US secretary of state and his Russian counterpart discussed the situation in the war-torn Syrian city.

Aleppo has been divided between government-controlled neighbourhoods in the city's west and rebel-held areas in the east since 2012.

The Syrian government and its allied forces now control at least three-quarters of the east because of a massive military assault on the besieged area.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian media quoted Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying the Syrian army had halted its attacks on Aleppo to allow for the evacuation of civilians, but there was no confirmation from the UN or the Syrian government.

John Kerry and Lavrov held brief meetings on Wednesday and Thursday on the sidelines of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe conference in Hamburg.

"They [John Kerry and Lavrov] agreed to continue discussions about establishing a framework for a ceasefire that will allow the delivery of aid, desperately needed humanitarian aid, as well as the safe departure of those who wish to leave the city," State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau told a briefing.

On Wednesday, government forces scored an important victory when the rebels retreated from the Old City, the historic heart of Aleppo.

They extended their advances later in the day, seizing the Bab al-Nayrab, Al-Maadi and Salhin neighbourhoods, according to Syrian state media.

"It's true that Aleppo will be a win for us, but let's be realistic - it won't mean the end of the war in Syria," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the al-Watan newspaper. "But it will be a huge step towards this end."

READ MORE: What went wrong in east Aleppo?

While rebels have vowed to continue fighting, the battle is complicated by tens of thousands of fearful civilians trapped in the remaining portions of the rebel-held east.

And as winter sets in, siege conditions are increasingly desperate, exacerbated by increasing numbers of displaced residents and food and water shortages.

Brita Haji Hassan, president of the Aleppo local council, said on Thursday more than 800 people have been killed and 3,000-3,500 wounded in war-devastated eastern Aleppo in the past 26 days.

"Today 150,000 people are threatened with extermination. We are calling for a halt to the bombing and guarantees of safe passage of all," Hassan said during a trip to Geneva.

Nearly 150 civilians, most disabled or in need of medical care, were evacuated overnight from a hospital in Aleppo's Old City, the first major evacuation from the eastern sector, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday.

Among those evacuated from Dar al-Safaa hospital in the Old City - taken over by Syrian government forces on Tuesday - 118 patients were taken to three hospitals in the west of Aleppo and 30 people were taken to shelters, also in the west of the city, the ICRC said in a statement.

OPINION: Why Syria's Bashar al-Assad is still in power

The evacuation was conducted jointly with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, it added.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, ICRC spokesman Pawel Krzysiek said: "The people were basically trapped there [in recent days]."

"The fighting kind of slowed down starting from yesterday afternoon," he continued, adding "it was too dangerous" to carry out an evacuation earlier.

"It's first and utmost about the safety of those people [being evacuated] and our priority is to ensure that they will be helped ... and safely transported to a safer place."

Since it began in March 2011, the war in Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of people, made more than half of Syrians homeless, and created the world's worst refugee crisis.

Assad has ruled out the possibility of a negotiated ceasefire with rebel forces. </s> The Syrian government claims its army has retaken control of a key district in rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

Rebels have stated their frontlines have collapsed due to heavy air strikes and a lack of hospitals.

The government offensive into eastern Aleppo is aiming to split the anti-Assad stronghold into two, according to rebels themselves.

Before the civil war began more than six years ago, Aleppo was Syria's largest city and it has become the scene of some of the most bloody fighting.

The city has been divided between the government-held west and the rebel-held east.

The Syrian army said in a statement that, with the help of allies, they have taken control of the Hanano housing district - adding: "Engineering teams are removing mines and improvised explosive devices planted by terrorists in the squares and streets."

The district was first taken by armed opposition groups in 2012 who have said Hanano had been empty of residents for months.

According to the UN, at least 250,000 civilians are trapped in the years-long siege. An estimated 400,000 civilians have been killed during the civil war.

A spokesman for Jabha Shamiya, one of the leading rebel groups fighting President Bashar Al-assad, condemned the "international silence" regarding Aleppo.

He added that the government was taking advantage of the period before Donald Trump took office.

The spokesman said: "The Iranians, Russians and regime know there is a vacuum and they are trying to exploit it using all means.

"We are in touch with the friendly states but unfortunately Aleppo is being left to be slaughtered."

In the 12 days since the renewed bombardment on eastern Aleppo, at least 201 civilians including 27 children have died in the sector - according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
Government forces and their allies announce plans to capture the remainder of Aleppo before American President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.