Russia extends its humanitarian pause by 24 hours in Aleppo

Russia says it will extend by 24 hours its humanitarian pause in air strikes on rebel-held eastern Aleppo, taking the break up until today afternoon. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said, President Vladimir Putin had ordered the extension to 16:00 (13:00 GMT). UN Humanitarian Chief Jan Egeland said, he hoped hundreds of sick and wounded could be evacuated by the deadline.

style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">But rebels have rejected the truce, with reports of continued clashes and few residents heeding calls to leave. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said militants were preventing the evacuation of the population, as he discussed the crisis by phone with US Secretary of State John Kerry.