UN "deeply concerned" about civilians trapped in Syria's eastern Aleppo

The United Nations is "deeply concerned about the safety, protection and well-being of civilians" in Syria's Aleppo, particularly those still trapped in the besieged enclave of eastern Aleppo, including humanitarian workers, a UN spokesman told reporters here Wednesday.

"Fighting has dramatically spread and intensified in the last 24 hours, leading to deaths and injuries of dozens of people in eastern and western Aleppo," Farhan Haq, the deputy UN spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

The United Nations has received reports of more civilians displaced, including an estimated 800 people from east Aleppo who arrived at the cotton factory site in Jibreen on Tuesday and more than 1,200 people who arrived in Hanano, a neighborhood that has been retaken by the Syrian government, Haq said.

"The overall number of displaced people remains extremely difficult to gauge at this time, as the UN does not have verifiable information about new displacements and people continue to arrive and leave existing shelters and lodge with family members," he said.

"The UN is following the situation closely and providing assistance to all those fleeing eastern Aleppo city," he added.

Some 31,500 civilians have been displaced within Aleppo since fighting between warring factions escalated on Nov. 24, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last Friday.

Over half, or 18,000, of those who have been forced to flee their homes have done so to Jibreen, a government-held district of western Aleppo, OCHA said.

Though unable to reach civilians who have not left eastern parts of the war-torn city, the UN said Thursday that it is able to provide much needed food and medical aid to those who have done so.

According to OCHA, Damascus has regained control of several neighbourhoods and civilian infrastructure in east Aleppo, including the Suleiman Al-Halabi water station. Endit