Russia: Russian, Syrian planes halting airstrikes on Aleppo

Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi of the Russian military's General Staff speaks to the media, with a map of the area around Aleppo seen in the background, at the Russian Defense Ministry's headquarters in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Oct. 17, 2016. Rudskoi was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Monday that Russian and Syrian forces will halt their fighting from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 20 in order to allow civilians and rebels safe passage out of the city as well as for the evacuation of the sick and wounded.(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (The Associated Press)

In this photo released early Monday, Oct. 17, 2016 and provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, rescue workers try to remove a boy stuck in the debris of a building in the neighborhood of Qaterji in rebel-held east Aleppo following an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria. Syrian activists are reporting that airstrikes on a rebel-held, eastern neighborhood in the city of Aleppo have killed at least 13 people, including children. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the airstrikes hit the Marjeh neighborhood. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Saturday, May 7, 2016 file photo, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu salutes to his soldiers as he is driven along Red Square during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade which will take place at Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to celebrate 71 years after the victory in WWII in Moscow, Russia. Shoigu says the airstrikes were suspended starting from 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18 and the suspension is intended to prepare for the opening of humanitarian corridors for the rebels to leave the besieged city of Aleppo. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file) (The Associated Press)

Russia has announced that Russian and Syrian warplanes are halting airstrikes on the besieged city of Aleppo.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says the airstrikes were suspended starting from 10 a.m. on Tuesday. He says the suspension is intended to prepare for the opening of humanitarian corridors for the rebels to leave Aleppo.

Russia says its forces and the Syrian army will observe a "humanitarian pause" between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursday, to allow civilians and militants safe passage out of the city. At that time, Syrian rebels, including al-Qaida militants, as well as the wounded and the sick will be allowed to leave to the neighboring rebel-held province of Idlib.

Shoigu urged the countries wielding influence with the rebels in Aleppo to persuade them to leave the city.