Syrian troops take even more ground in rebel part of Aleppo

Syrian government troops and allied militias have seized a wide strip on the southern edge of Aleppo from rebels, closing in on tens of thousands of civilians squeezed into the centre of the city, according to state media and an opposition monitoring group.

State TV said the Syrian forces fully secured the Sheik Saeed neighbourhood - an area interspersed with agricultural fields along the southern stretch of the rebel enclave - on Monday, after days of intense clashes.