Humanitarian pause begins in Syria's Aleppo

A halt in fighting announced by Russia to allow rebels and residents of Syria's besieged eastern parts of Aleppo went into effect on Friday and activists reported a relative calm in the city.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that during the early part of the 10-hour "humanitarian pause", it recorded no major military action by the Syrian and allied forces or by the opposition fighters.

A pro-government Facebook news platform, Aleppo Shahba News Network, said designated corridors have been opened for the fighters and civilians but the Observatory said no-one has used them so far.

Rebel spokesman Yasser Al-Youssef said helicopters were hovering over the area.

The UN estimates that 275,000 people are trapped in the eastern, rebel-held part of the divided city.