Russia Says Two Soldiers 'lightly Wounded' In Aleppo Rebel Shelling

MOSCOW, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 04th Nov, 2016 ) - Two Russian servicemen were lightly wounded Friday by rebel shelling of a corridor intended to evacuate fighters from the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, the defence ministry in Moscow said.

The ministry said shelling from home-made gas canister bombs and mortars hit the western part of the key Castello road route at around 1145 GMT. "As a result of the firing two servicemen were lightly wounded," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the two soldiers monitoring a ceasefire were evacuated and there was "no threat to their lives".

The statement said that "around 50 representatives of Russian, Western and Arab media" were evacuated from the area and that the Russian military had temporarily cut a live video of the area.

A Russian-declared ceasefire for opposition-held areas of Syria's second city Aleppo took effect Friday, but there was little sign that civilians or rebels were heeding calls to leave.

Moscow says its forces and Syrian troops on the ground are holding fire from 0700 GMT to 1700 GMT and have opened up two corridors for fighters to quit and six corridors for civilians. Syrian state media reported earlier that rebels fired rockets at one of the eight evacuation passages open for civilians and rebels, and accused opposition fighters of preventing residents from fleeing.