Russian Military Says Syrian Troops Retake Aleppo District |

The Russian military says Syrian government forces have seized another district in eastern Aleppo, further squeezing a small remaining rebel enclave.

The military's Center for Reconciliation in Syria said the Syrian troops retook the Sukkari quarter, reducing the area still under rebel control to 2.5 square kilometers (less than a square mile).

A cease-fire deal between the rebels and the Syrian government that was to allow the evacuation of rebels and civilians from eastern Aleppo effectively collapsed Wednesday, with the government and the rebels blaming each other for its failure.

The Russian military says the Syrian government forces were observing the cease-fire on Tuesday, but the rebels fired at a convoy that was to carry the evacuees to the rebel-held Idlib province at dawn.

A U.N. commission investigating human rights abuses in Syria says it is "imperative" to ensure that civilians are granted safe passage out of eastern Aleppo.

The Commission of Inquiry says the Syrian government and its allies now bear primary responsibility for preventing rights violations and reprisals in the area.

It said Wednesday that "numerous reports of violations perpetrated by pro-government forces continue to emerge, including summary executions, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and forced conscription."

In a statement issued in Geneva, the group said it also "received allegations" that opposition groups, including Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Qaida-linked Fatah al-Sham Front, were preventing civilians from leaving and embedding fighters among civilians, putting the civilians at risk.

Syrian President Bashar Assad says western countries are seeking a cease-fire in the northern city of Aleppo in order to save "the terrorists."

Assad spoke to the Russia Today channel in excerpts of an interview aired Wednesday.

His comments come after government troops and allied militias have all but captured the entire rebel-held enclave. Thousands of civilians, alongside rebels, remain crammed in a small sliver of territory. A cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey to allow for their evacuation is unravelling as shelling and bombing resumed Wednesday.

Assad said the cease-fire was to stop his government's advance in the city and "keep the terrorists and save them." He also said the capture of the ancient city of Palmyra by Islamic State militants was to "distract" from the Aleppo offensive.