UN humanitarian chief: 16,000 displaced in Syria's Aleppo

Up to 16,000 people have been displaced in Syria's Aleppo by intense attacks on the rebel-held eastern part of the city, the United Nations (UN) humanitarian chief and relief coordinator Stephen O'Brien said on Tuesday, citing initial reports.

The area had no functioning hospitals left, food stocks were nearly exhausted and it was likely that thousands more people would flee their homes if fighting persisted in the coming days, he said in an emailed statement.

On Monday, the Syrian army and its allies announced the capture of a large swathe of eastern Aleppo from rebels in an accelerating attack that threatens to crush the opposition in its most important urban stronghold.

Two rebel officials said the insurgents, facing fierce bombardment and ground attacks, had withdrawn from the northern part of eastern Aleppo to a more defensible front line along a big highway after losses that threatened to split their enclave. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the northern portion of eastern Aleppo lost by the rebels amounted to more than a third of the territory they had held, calling it the biggest defeat for the opposition in Aleppo since 2012.