Syrian government: Aleppo truce must include rebel pullout

Smoke rises after rebel fighters launch a mortar shell on residential neighborhood in west Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The government seized large swaths of the Aleppo enclave under rebel control since 2012 in the offensive that began last week. The fighting was most intense Monday near the dividing line between east and west Aleppo as government and allied troops push their way from the eastern flank, reaching within less than a kilometer (half a mile) from the citadel that anchors the center of the city.(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

A ball of fire rises following a Syrian government air strike that hit rebel positions in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The government seized large swaths of the Aleppo enclave under rebel control since 2012 in the offensive that began last week. The fighting was most intense Monday near the dividing line between east and west Aleppo as government and allied troops push their way from the eastern flank, reaching within less than a kilometer, about half a mile, from the citadel that anchors the center of the city. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

Smoke rises after rebel fighters launch a mortar shell on a residential neighborhood in western Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. The government seized large swaths of the Aleppo enclave under rebel control since 2012 in the offensive that began last week. The fighting was most intense Monday near the dividing line between east and west Aleppo as government and allied troops push their way from the eastern flank, reaching within less than a kilometer, about half a mile, from the citadel that anchors the center of the city. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

The Syrian government says it rejects any cease-fire for embattled Aleppo unless it includes the departure of all rebels from the eastern part of the city.

Syria's Foreign Ministry says in a statement carried on the state SANA news agency on Tuesday that the government won't allow the rebels a chance to "regroup and repeat their crimes" in the divided city.

The statement comes a day after Russia and China blocked a draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council demanding a seven-day truce in Aleppo.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says rebel shelling of Aleppo's government-held districts killed 81 civilians in the past three weeks. The government's offensive to take eastern Aleppo killed 341 civilians over the same period and displaced tens of thousands over the past week.