Aleppo battle: UN says hundreds of men and boys 'missing'

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Hundreds of men and boys appear to have gone missing after crossing from rebel-held areas of Aleppo into government territory, UN officials say.

Forces led by Syria's government have seized at least 75% of eastern parts of the city from rebels in recent weeks.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled those districts, with more than 8,000 leaving during a humanitarian pause on Thursday.

Rebels were also reportedly stopping people from leaving, the UN said.

At a briefing in Geneva, Rupert Colville, the spokesman for the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, said up to 100,000 people were trapped in "ever-shrinking" areas of eastern Aleppo.

Reports differ on how many people remain and how many have fled eastern Aleppo, but Mr Colville said the UN had gathered evidence that "hundreds" of men may have disappeared after leaving for government-held areas.

"Given the terrible record of arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances, we are of course deeply concerned," he said, referring to the Syrian government.

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On Thursday, Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said fighting was suspended to allow civilians to leave.

By Friday morning, more than 8,000 people - including 3,000 children - had left, Russia's military said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ground forces continued their offensive, and that rocket attacks and air raids were launched overnight.

"Helicopters, warplanes and rocket bombardment like every day," one Turkey-based official with the Jabha al-Shamiya rebel group told Reuters. "Nothing has changed."

The civilian rescue group known as the White Helmets said 46 civilians were killed and another 230 injured on Thursday in east Aleppo. Three barrel bombs carrying chlorine gas were dropped, it added.

The past two days have seen some of the heaviest civilian casualties in the past fortnight in east Aleppo.