UN envoy warns Aleppo faces destruction by end of year

The UN envoy for Syria has called on militant fighters to leave Aleppo and for the Syrian and Russian governments to end their bombing campaign against rebel-held areas of the city, warning that otherwise the city will be "destroyed" by the end of the year with the deaths of thousands more civilians.

Staffan de Mistura called on an estimated 900 fighters from Fatah al-Sham Front to leave the rebel-held east of the city. The group was previously known as Nusra Front and changed its name after cutting ties with al-Qaida, but the UN still considers it a terrorist organisation.