Syrian government forces and their allies have advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo, seizing the Old City and other areas.
"The regime forces under the cover of heavy shelling and air strikes managed to take full control of the areas in the Old City and the region of the great Ummayad Mosque," the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday, referencing iconic areas.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory, said the government loyal to President Bashar al-Assad now controls nearly 75 per cent of eastern Aleppo.
Residents still in the enclave have pushed deeper south, amid testimony that conditions are becoming increasingly difficult due to illness, food shortages and a lack of medical facilities.
Some civilians have expressed fears about what may happen to them if the government takes control.
Some rebel leaders inside Aleppo rejected reports that there was a deal to evacuate from the city, even as US Secretary of State John Kerry said talks were ongoing and the militants "have to make their choices."
"The fact is that, most recently in discussions, there has been discussion of trying to move people out in order to save Aleppo. But until this moment, there has not been an agreement on how that would happen or how those people would move out or how they might be protected," Kerry said in Brussels.
On Tuesday Russian Foriegn Minister Sergei Lavrov said rebels who do not leave eastern Aleppo would be "eradicated."
