Thousands flee rebel-held areas in Aleppo as Syrian army advances
Syrian government forces have seized two more districts in their offensive to recapture rebel-held areas of Aleppo.
Syrian state media reported Assad's forces had taken the Jabal Badro district and entered Sakhour on Sunday after taking control of the Masaken Hanano district on Saturday.
The advance of government forces into Sakhour brings them to within 0.6 miles of opening up a corridor in eastern Aleppo for the first time since the civil war broke out, said Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.
Syria's second biggest city has been roughly divided between pro-government districts and rebel-held areas since the outbreak of civil war in 2012.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war through local contacts, said some 1,700 civilians had fled to areas under government control.
The government's push, reportedly backed by thousands of Shiite militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, and at times by the Russian air force, has laid waste to Aleppo's eastern areas.
An estimated 275,000 people remain trapped in Aleppo's rebel-held eastern districts. The UN warned that food supplies are running dangerously low and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.
The UN's child agency warned nearly 500,000 children were cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.