UN envoy warns east Aleppo facing total destruction

The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura made an impassioned appeal to save eastern Aleppo, warning the city faced total destruction and urging hardline fighters to leave the rebel-held east so civilians can get aid. He told reporters in Geneva yesterday that maximum in a two and half months, the city of eastern Aleppo may be totally destroyed.

The rebel-held east of Aleppo has been hammered by a Russia-backed government offensive, including multiple air attacks on hospitals, with hundreds of civilians killed and thousands wounded. President Bashar al-Assad also said yesterday that rebels holed up



in Aleppo can leave with their families if they lay down their arms, vowing to press on with the assault on Syria's largest city and recapture full control of the country. 

However, rebels said they had no plan to evacuate Aleppo, the last major urban area they control and denounced the amnesty offer as a deception.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council will convene a meeting on the situation in Aleppo city today. The Russian permanent mission to the United Nations told that UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will brief the Security Council remotely from Geneva.