Civilians on a motorbike flee deeper into the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail

MOSCOW (Reuters) - More than 20,000 civilians have left eastern Aleppo on Saturday and over 1,200 rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have laid down their arms, Interfax news agency cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying on Saturday.