Europe

Russia: Humanitarian corridors in Syria's Aleppo still open

Associated Press
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Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff speaks at a briefing at the Russian Defense Ministry's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it was keeping humanitarian corridors out of Syria's Aleppo open following accusations by the U.N. humanitarian chief that warring parties were obstructing medical evacuations from the eastern, rebel-held districts of the city. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) (The Associated Press)

Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff speaks at a briefing at the Russian Defense Ministry's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it was keeping humanitarian corridors out of Syria's Aleppo open following accusations by the U.N. humanitarian chief that warring parties were obstructing medical evacuations from the eastern, rebel-held districts of the city. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) (The Associated Press)

Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff speaks at a briefing at the Russian Defense Ministry's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it was keeping humanitarian corridors out of Syria's Aleppo open following accusations by the U.N. humanitarian chief that warring parties were obstructing medical evacuations from the eastern, rebel-held districts of the city. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) (The Associated Press)

Russia's Defense Ministry says that humanitarian corridors out of Syria's Aleppo are still open and that there have been no Russian or Syrian airstrikes on the besieged city for seven days now.

The ministry's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said on Tuesday that a total of 48 women and children left eastern Aleppo the previous evening.

There was no immediate confirmation from the rebels in the eastern, rebel-held districts of Aleppo.

Konashenkov says the six humanitarian corridors out of the eastern part of the city continue to function "around the clock." He says that Russian and Syrian warplanes "are not approaching the city and are not carrying out attacks."

Konashenkov's statement came after fighting resumed in Aleppo over the weekend, with Syrian government forces shelling opposition districts.