DHAKA: Syrian pro-government forces have been entering homes in eastern Aleppo and killing those inside, including women and children.

The UN’s human rights office said it had reliable evidence that in four areas 82 civilians were shot on sight, reports the BBC.

Meanwhile, the UN children’s agency cited a doctor as saying a building housing as many as 100 unaccompanied children was under heavy attack.

Rebels, who have held east Aleppo for four years, are on the brink of defeat.

Thousands of people are reportedly trapped in the last remaining neighborhoods still in rebel hands, facing intense bombardment as pro-government troops advance.

The Syrian government’s ally Russia, which has rejected calls for a humanitarian truce, earlier said any atrocities were “actually being committed by terrorist groups”, meaning rebel forces.

“We are filled with the deepest foreboding for those who remain in this last hellish corner” of eastern Aleppo, UN human rights office spokesman Rupert Colville told a news conference.

He said that of the 82 civilians reportedly shot by pro-government forces, 11 were women and 13 were children.

“The residents were unable to retrieve them due to the intense bombardment and their fear of being shot on sight.”

Meanwhile, Unicef quoted a doctor in the city as saying “Many children, possibly more than 100, unaccompanied or separated from their families, are trapped in a building, under heavy attack in east Aleppo”.

It is hard to know exactly how many people are trapped in the besieged areas, although one US official with knowledge of efforts to secure safe passage for people in the city told the BBC that there were around 50,000 people.

BDST: 2005 HRS, DEC 13, 2016
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