Syrian regime forces have entered the east of Aleppo and retook parts of its largest district, launching a ground assault to take control of rebel - controlled area.
The offensive to recover the key area of Masaken Hanano was backed by regime air strikes and marked the first time government forces have retaken a significant part in eastern Aleppo since the rebels seized the area more than four years ago.
Government forces also entered the Jabal Badru neighborhood on Sunday, dividing eastern Aleppo into two.
Aleppo is divided between government-controlled areas in the west and rebels in the east. Bachar al Asad promised to retake the entire city, which was once the commercial heart of Syria and is now one of the last urban redoubts still in the hands of the rebels.
East of the city has become the epicenter of Syria's brutal five-year civil war. Much of it has been reduced to rubble due to the intense bombing of regime forces backed by the Russian air force, while the humanitarian crisis has a catastrophic scale.
At least 46 people were killed and 325 wounded on Saturday when regime forces entered the eastern city, according to Syrian Civil Defense volunteer rescue group, also known as the White Helmets, and activist Aleppo Media Center.
White Helmets said there were at least 150 air strikes and 2,500 artillery shells in and around the city on Saturday.
The Syrian army said Sunday that its units are securing the exit routes of 1,500 people from eastern Aleppo to the regime areas, according to state news agency SANA.
But some civilians told CNN that they were not going to leave Aleppo because they had nowhere else to go. Many say they fear reprisals or be separated from their families.
10,000 people leave Aleppo
About 10,000 people have left rebel-controlled areas in eastern Aleppo in recent days amid sweeping advances by the Syrian army, according to a UK-based human rights watchdog.
About 6,000 people have fled to areas controlled by Kurdish forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported Monday.
In addition, more than 3,000 civilians - more than half as children - have fled to government-controlled areas of the city in the last 24 hours, according to Russian and Syrian state media quoting the Russian reconciliation center in Syria which is located in The military base of Hmeymim.
Syrian state news agency SANA reported that "hundreds" more civilians fled to parts controlled by the city government.
"A nightmare without end"
The UN agency for children, UNICEF, reported that about half a million children live in a state of siege in Syria, a figure that has doubled in less than a year.
Children live in 16 areas, deprived of aid and basic services, UNICEF said.
"For millions of human beings in Syria, life has become an endless nightmare - particularly for hundreds of thousands of children living in a state of siege. Children are being killed and wounded, they are too afraid to go to School or even play, survive with little food and almost no medicine, "UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in a statement.
UNICEF estimates that 100,000 children live under siege alone in the east of Aleppo alone. It is believed that about 250,000 people are trapped there.
"Am I going to die, miss?", The cry of a young Syrian in Aleppo
"Am I going to die, miss?", The cry of a young Syrian in Aleppo
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