Alalam - Syria

Rebels said on Tuesday they would never abandon Aleppo, after reports that US and Russian diplomats were preparing to meet to discuss the surrender and evacuation of insurgents from territory they have held for years.

Russia's defence ministry said that Syrian government forces had taken control of five more districts of eastern Aleppo, Russian news agencies reported, bringing the number of districts seized from the rebels to 35.

The rebels, who controlled large parts of eastern Aleppo for nearly five years, have lost around two thirds of their territory in the city over the past two weeks.

The government now appears closer to victory than at any point since 2012, the year after rebels took up arms to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, made more than half of Syrians homeless and created the world's worst refugee crisis, Reuters reports.

SA - 12