MOSCOW, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Militants launched mortar attacks against one of the evacuation corridors in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo amid a pause of air strikes that came into effect earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.
At about 2:45 p.m. Moscow time (1145 GMT) Friday, the militants from the eastern part of Aleppo shelled a humanitarian corridor near the western section of the Castello road opened for the withdrawal of armed units, the ministry said in a statement.
Two Russian servicemen were slightly injured in the attacks, and some 50 journalists from Russian, Western and Arab media have been evacuated through the humanitarian corridor in the Castello area, the ministry added.
A humanitarian pause of air strikes was introduced at 09:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) by Russian and Syrian government troops for the exit of rebels and evacuation of civilians and the wounded from Aleppo. The truce is expected to end at 07:00 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).
The Russian air force has suspended air strikes against the rebels in Aleppo for 19 days. Moscow has repeatedly accused the militants in Syria of launching attacks during an earlier humanitarian pause in October.
