UN to begin evacuations from Aleppo

Syrian army opens eight corridors across front line for more than 250,000 civilians to leave

The United Nations hopes to carry out the first medical evacuations from Aleppo on Friday, if a "humanitarian pause" in the Syrian army's assault on the city holds.

Despite a drop in violence after the unilateral cease-fire took effect on Thursday, there was little sign civilians were heeding calls to leave opposition-held areas of the city, and Russia accused the rebels of intimidation.

The unilateral cease-fire was initially described as lasting just 11 hours, but Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced late on Thursday that it would be extended "by 24 hours", leaving it unclear exactly when it will end.

East Aleppo, which the rebels captured in 2012, has been under siege by the army since July and has faced devastating bombardment by Syrian government forces since the launch of an offensive to retake the whole city on Sept 22.

Nearly 500 people have been killed, more than a quarter of them children, since the assault began. More than 2,000 civilians have been wounded.

Russia announced a halt to its airstrikes from Tuesday and the unilateral cease-fire from Thursday.

Few leaving

The Syrian army has opened eight corridors across the front line for the more than 250,000 civilians in rebel-held areas to leave but so far almost none have taken up the offer.

"There has been no movement in the corridors in the eastern district. For the moment, we haven't seen any movement of residents or fighters," said Rami Abdel Rahman, a human rights activist.

An AFP correspondent on the government-held side of one crossing in the Bustan al-Qasr district also reported no movement at all early on Friday.

He reported just eight people passing through it on Thursday.

There has been no air or artillery bombardment of east Aleppo since the cease-fire began but sporadic clashes have continued on the front line, some of them near the evacuation corridors.

UN humanitarian task force chief Jan Egeland said that Russia, the Syrian government, and rebels had given permission for medical evacuations to start on Friday, adding that the UN also hopes to deliver food to the besieged east.

No UN aid convoy has entered Aleppo since July 7 and food rations will run out by the end of October, UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday.

The UN has been criticized by the Syrian opposition for focusing more on enabling people to leave than providing relief supplies to allow them to stay.

Moscow has in turn accused the rebels of preventing residents from leaving.

"The rebels are violating the cease-fire and preventing the evacuation of the population," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his US counterpart John Kerry on Thursday.

Moscow and Damascus have called on civilians to leave so that the offensive can focus on fighters of former al-Qaida affiliate, the Fateh al-Sham Front.

The two governments have said repeatedly that there will be no letup in their offensive until the jihadists leave.