Lavrov says resistance in Aleppo to end in '2-3 days'

By Hakan Ceyhan Aydogan

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday the situation in eastern Aleppo would be resolved in the coming two or three days.

The past couple of days have seen the Russia-backed Assad regime re-establish control over parts of Aleppo captured four years ago by armed opposition groups, resulting in numerous civilian deaths.

"We think the resistance of armed groups will end in two to three days," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said Russia had established humanitarian corridors for civilians to "safely" leave the Syrian city.

He said it was "important" to end the tragedy in Aleppo. He added tens of thousands civilians had already left Aleppo.

According to a Wednesday's report by the Russian Center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria, nearly 6,000 civilians, including 2,200 children, have been evacuated from Aleppo’s districts held by militants over the past 24 hours.

In the past two days, numerous civilians in eastern Aleppo have been killed by regime forces -- a situation the UN has described as alarming.

As a result of a Turkish mediation, the cease-fire took into effect as of 7.00 p.m. local time (1700GMT) on Tuesday.

Under the deal, civilians trapped in the conflict-hit zone will be moved via buses to the western part of Aleppo. Opposition fighters would be evacuated after the civilians.

* Diyar Guldogan in Ankara contributed to this report.