Russia, Syria halt Aleppo air strikes

Russian and Syrian air forces have halted air strikes on Aleppo two days ahead of a planned pause in bombing designed to allow rebels and civilians to leave the city.

Tuesday's announcement by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu follows a promise by Moscow to pause strikes on Thursday for eight hours.

In a televised meeting with military officials, Shoigu said strikes had been halted from 10am local time on Tuesday to help guarantee the safety of six corridors for civilian evacuation and prepare for the removal of the sick and wounded from eastern Aleppo.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said Russian warplanes had launched heavy raids on Syria's largest city early on Tuesday but it had been quiet since.

Shoigu said Russia now expected militants to leave Aleppo, with their weapons, via two special corridors, one via the Castello Road and the other near the Al-Khai Souq market.

Syrian troops would be pulled back to allow the militants to leave unhindered, he promised.

"We call on the leadership of countries that have influence over armed groups in eastern Aleppo to convince their leaders to stop military action and abandon the city," he said.

"Everyone really interested in the fastest possible stabilisation of the situation in the city of Aleppo should take genuine political steps and not continue shuffling political papers."

Military experts would meet in Geneva on Wednesday to start work on separating "terrorists" from Syria's moderate opposition, Shoigu said, adding that Russian specialists had already arrived there.