The Syrian army and its allies are in the "last moments before declaring victory" in Aleppo, a Syrian military source said, after rebel defenses collapsed on Monday, leaving insurgents in a tiny, heavily bombarded pocket of ground.
A Reuters journalist in the government-held zone said the bombardment of rebel areas of the city continued non-stop on Monday, and a civilian trapped there described the situation as resembling "Doomsday".
"The battle in eastern Aleppo should end quickly. They (rebels) don't have much time. They either have to surrender or die," Lieutenant General Zaid al-Saleh, head of the government's Aleppo security committee, told reporters in the recaptured Sheikh Saeed district of the city.
Rebels withdrew from all districts on the east side of the Aleppo river on Monday afternoon after losing Sheikh Saeed in the south of their pocket in overnight fighting, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.