The Syrian army and its allies are in the "last moments before declaring victory" in Aleppo, a Syrian military source said, after rebel defences collapsed on December 12, leaving insurgents in a tiny, heavily bombarded pocket of ground.
The Syrian army pressed an offensive in Aleppo on December 9 with ground fighting and air strikes in an operation to retake all of the city's rebel-held east that would bring victory in the civil war closer for President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian army's advance in Aleppo slowed on December 8 but a victory was still firmly in sight after President Bashar al-Assad vowed that retaking the city would change the course of the six-year-old war.
Syrian rebels in besieged eastern Aleppo called on December 7 for an immediate five-day ceasefire and the evacuation of civilians and wounded, but gave no indication they were ready to withdraw as demanded by Damascus and Moscow.
Syria's army and allies pushed into rebel-held parts of Aleppo's Old City on December 6, a monitoring group said, looking closer than ever to achieving their most important victory of the five-year-old civil war by driving rebels out of their last urban stronghold.
Russia and China on December 5 vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have demanded a seven-day truce in Syria's Aleppo, with Russia arguing it would allow rebels to regroup and that time was needed for talks between Washington and Moscow.
Syria's army and allied militia advanced towards rebel-held areas of Aleppo's Old City on December 4 in an attack which a military source predicted would be over in a matter of weeks.
Syrian rebels on November 30 vowed to fight on in east Aleppo in the face of sudden government advances that have cut the area held by the opposition by a third in recent days and brought insurgents in the city to the brink of a catastrophic defeat.
The Syrian army and its allies announced the capture of a large swath of eastern Aleppo from rebels on November 28 in an accelerating attack that threatens to crush the opposition in its most important urban stronghold.
The Syrian army said it had taken control of an important district in rebel-held eastern Aleppo on November 26 after fierce fighting, with rebels blaming intense air strikes and lack of hospitals for their collapsing frontline.
The UN Special Envoy for Syria on November 24 said US President Barack Obama could well keep working until his last day in office to end the war in Syria, and Russia did not want to be held responsible for the demolition of eastern Aleppo.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, will fly to Moscow, Washington and Tehran in the coming days in a bid to secure access to civilians in Aleppo.
Rebel shelling killed eight children at a school in the government-held part of Aleppo on November 20 and a barrel bomb killed a family of six in the rebel-held area, part of a heavy government bombardment that has knocked out all the hospitals.
Syrian rebels fought fiercely with pro-government forces trying to advance into opposition-held areas of eastern Aleppo and warplanes kept up their bombardment of the area on November 18 in a renewed bid by Damascus to retake the entire city.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said on November 17 he discussed Ukraine and "all aspects" of Aleppo including renewed bombing in the Syrian city this week in a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Russia and the Syrian army on November 2 told anti-government rebels in Aleppo to leave by November 4 evening, signaling an extended moratorium on air strikes in the city.
Syria's army said on October 31 the Nusra Front and what the army called other terrorist groups had killed 84 people, mostly women and children, in Aleppo during the past three days, in a bombardment that included chemical weapons and rocket fire.
Syrian rebels including jihadists counter-attacked the army and its allies on October 28 aiming to break a weeks-long siege on eastern Aleppo, insurgents said.
Russia said on October 25 it would extend a moratorium on air strikes on Syria's Aleppo into a ninth day, but a monitor and a civil defense official said that rebel-held parts of the divided city had been struck in recent days.
The battle for control of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo intensified on October 23 with air strikes, ground offensives and shelling, the morning after a resurgence in fighting ended a Russian ceasefire, a monitor and rebel groups said.
