Russia offers Syrian rebels safe passage out of Aleppo, even as its bombardment of city continues
Russia said Thursday it was prepared to secure safe passage for Syrian rebels out of Aleppo but kept up air strikes on the battleground city as world powers readied new truce talks.
In a development demonstrating the perils of journeying in the war-wracked country, at least 17 people - most of them rebels - died in a car bomb blast at an opposition checkpoint in northern Aleppo province on Thursday, a monitor said.
The blast hit near the town of Azaz close to the border with Turkey, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that 14 of the dead were rebel fighters. It said the toll could rise.
The Islamic State group has regularly targeted rebel factions with bomb attacks, including an October 6 attack at a border crossing in neighbouring Idlib province that killed 29 rebels.
