Rebels ask for five-day ceasefire in Aleppo

  • Video Report by ITV News International Affairs Editor Rageh Omaar

Syrian rebels have proposed a five-day ceasefire for medical and civilian evacuations from the eastern part of the city of Aleppo.

It comes as government forces recaptured all parts of the old city as rebel defences continue to crumble.

The latest defeat for anti-government insurgents means two thirds of their main urban stronghold have been lost in just two weeks.

The proposal ceasefire calls for the immediate evacuation of 500 seriously wounded Aleppo residents.

It also wants to allow civilians wishing to leave to head to northern rural Aleppo province, where there is almost no government presence.

Captain Abdel-Salam Abdel-Razek, of the rebel Nour el-Din el-Zinki faction, said the future of the city of Aleppo is to be negotiated during this humanitarian pause, which the rebels want the United Nations to monitor.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have made continued gains in Aleppo from their prolonged offensive - mainly centering on the eastern half of the besieged city.

With fighting continuing, the conditions for the thousands trapped inside Aleppo have worsened.

The Syrian army began to enter the Old City on Tuesday, looking to complete their most important strategic victory from the five-year-old civil war.

Restoring full control over Aleppo has remained a key objective throughout for Al-Assad.

Insurgents have been pushed back from Old Aleppo Credit: Reuters

On Wednesday, Assad's troops managed to retake the whole of the Old City and drive remaining rebels out, according to The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Heavy airstrikes and shelling forced the insurgents to withdraw.

Meanwhile, a Russian military adviser working in Aleppo was killed during artillery shelling carried out by rebel forces.

The fatality marks Russia's third casualty this week, after two nurses were killed in a rocket attack on a makeshift Russian military hospital in the city.