By Friday only a few Aleppo residents had left eastern areas through one passage but others wishing to flee were prevented by rebels, said the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
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“I will not leave”.
The fighters who want to surrender will be able leave the city via a corridor to the north, Shoigu also said.
But Khandakani, formerly a lawyer who was detained for a month in the early days of the protests against the Syrian government, said he was anxious about his family.
“By disavowing its ties to Al-Qaeda – which, incidentally, it did with Al-Qaeda’s blessing – Nusra has made it harder to isolate it from more moderate groups, some of whose members may join it now because it’s more powerful than some of the groups they belong to now”, said the official.
“Our suggestion to Russian Federation is to actually leave the corridors being established at their initiative to us”, he said.
Children peer from a partly destroyed home in Aleppo in February.
“Most of the men – everyone here – is wanted by the regime”, said Haj.
Opposition activists meanwhile reported airstrikes on several towns and villages in Aleppo province, including the village of Ibin where at least six people were killed according to the Observatory and the LCC.
Shoigu also offered militants the chance to surrender, saying Russian Federation had urged the Syrian government to pardon those who have not committed serious crimes. The town is encircled by the Kurdish-led forces. Homs, with a total population of 200,000, returned nearly fully to government control in December following a three-year siege.
Robert Mardini, ICRC director for the Near and Middle East, said what was needed was “a humanitarian pause” in all areas of Aleppo affected by violence.
Analysts said losing Aleppo would be a major blow for the rebels and a possible turning point in Syria’s five-year-old conflict.
“The forcible displacement of Aleppo’s population is a war crime perpetrated by the Syrian regime and a permanent member of the (UN) Security Council”, it said, referring to Russian Federation.
On Friday, the United Nations envoy to Syria said the corridors should be administered by the UN and that there should be a 48-hour ceasefire for people to leave safely.
Reports said “a number” of women over the age of 40 had left the rebel-held east and had been taken to shelters, but there were no exact figure for the number of people who evacuated. “It means some people are getting only a quarter loaf of bread a day”, he said.
Rights groups and civilians trapped in opposition-held neighbourhoods in eastern Aleppo reacted critically to Russia’s plan, saying it does not guarantee safe passage or give residents a choice of where they flee to.
The United States has said it is “skeptical” of a Russian announcement that it had opened humanitarian corridors in Aleppo, with Secretary of State John Kerry fearing a potential “ruse”.
“Definitely not. We will not surrender ourselves to the criminals”. Assad has previously offered amnesty to rebels or deserters, and commuted sentences for various offenses. The offer is largely seen by opposition fighters as a publicity stunt and psychological warfare against the rebels.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011.
The capitulation took place in Aleppo’s Salaheddine neighborhood on Saturday.
“When it’s gone, it’s gone”, he said.
Aleppo has been roughly divided between government control in the west and rebel control in the east since mid-2012.
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“I am still waiting for a miracle”.
