Smoke rises following a Syrian government air strike on rebel positions, in eastern Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Dec. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

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Russia says all military action in eastern Aleppo has stopped and the Syrian government is now in control.

The announcement came after Syrian rebels said an agreement has been reached with Russia for a cease-fire in Aleppo to evacuate remaining civilians and rebels from besieged districts.

CCTV’s Alaa Ebrahim reports with the latest.

Cease-fire agreement reached in Syria Russia says all military action in eastern Aleppo has stopped and the Syrian government is now in control. CCTV's Alaa Ebrahim reports the latest.

Osama Abu Zayd, a legal adviser for an umbrella group of rebel factions known as the Free Syrian Army, says the cease-fire went into effect Tuesday evening. He says the first batch will begin evacuating later Tuesday.

Prior to the announcement, the U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Aleppo, where Syrian government forces appear on the verge of seizing the city’s last rebel enclave.

France’s U.N. Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters Tuesday that “war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity are committed on a daily basis in Aleppo,” and that the council must try “to stop the bloodshed, to evacuate populations safely, to assist those in need.”

As France called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Aleppo, there are United Nations reports of dozens of unaccompanied children trapped in a building under fire in the Syrian city.

“It is time for the world to stand up for the children of Aleppo and bring their living nightmare to an end,” UNICEF Regional Director, Geert Cappelaere, said in a statement.

“According to alarming reports from a doctor in the city, many children, possibly more than 100, unaccompanied or separated from their families, are trapped in a building, under heavy attack in east Aleppo,” Cappelaere said.

The agency is calling for the immediate evacuation of the children from the rebel enclave.

Britain’s House of Commons has debated emergency measures to help save thousands of civilians trapped in the Syrian city of Aleppo, with lawmakers backing action.

The Russian military says Western criticism of the operation to retake rebel-held neighborhoods of Aleppo is hypocritical.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said Tuesday that the militants had used over 100,000 residents of the city’s eastern neighborhoods as human shields. He says civilians fleeing eastern Aleppo have recounted militant repression against anyone who attempted to leave.

Konashenkov said video reports showing the damage to civilian areas from purported Russian strikes had been staged by the militants.

Reporting for this piece was done by The Associated Press.

Kamran Bokhari on ceasefire agreement in Syria

For more on the breaking nes on the Syrian ceasefire agreement, CCTV America’s Mike Walter spoke with Kamran Bokhari, senior fellow with the Center for Global Policy and Fellow with the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

UNSC hold emergency meeting following Russian ceasefire agreement

The ceasefire marks a dramatic development, but news of the halt in fighting also came amid reports that scores of civilians including women and children were executed by pro-government forces.

CCTV’s Lilin Tan reports the story.



UNSC hold emergency meeting following Russian ceasefire agreement The ceasefire marks a dramatic development, but news of the halt in fighting also came amid reports that scores of civilians including women and children were executed by pro-government forces. CCTV's Lilin Tan reports the story.

The news prompted another emergency security council meeting, that saw opposing sides once again accusing each other of fueling the conflict and attacking civilians.

The Syrian Ambassador to the UN denies the reports.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the immediate task is to stop the carnage, allow civilians to escape and provide access for critical humanitarian aid.