BEIRUT -- Dozens of families and some opposition fighters left besieged rebel-held neighborhoods in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Saturday after the government opened corridors for civilians and fighters who want to leave, state media reported.
The government completely closed the main road into rebel-held areas of Aleppo on July 17, effectively besieging the 300,000 people living there.
Last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad offered amnesty to rebels who lay down their arms and surrender to authorities in the next three months.
Opposition activists denied reports that Aleppo residents were leaving rebel-held neighborhoods of the city, saying that state media falsely suggested that civilians were fleeing the area in large numbers.
Syrian TV footage appeared to show dozens of people leaving, a small number of the people still living in the besieged eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.
About a dozen young men were shown on state TV surrendering to government forces. All had covered their faces, and most were carrying rifles over their heads. As the men walked out of a building, Syrian government soldiers pointed their rifles toward them.
State TV showed dozens of women and children arriving in a street lined with heavily damaged buildings in the government-held part of Aleppo's Salaheddine neighborhood. The Syrian Arab News Agency said the civilians later boarded buses and were taken to shelters set up by the government on the western side of Aleppo.
The state news agency said some fighters went to government forces stationed in Salaheddine, where they handed over their weapons and surrendered to authorities. Usually surrendering fighters are questioned by government authorities and then sign a pledge promising not to take up arms against the Syrian state again.
"We are feeling good now because we are under the protection of the army, may God protect them. We suffered a lot in order to be able to come here," a Syrian woman told state TV after leaving rebel-held parts of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and former commercial center.
State media said large numbers of people were being prevented by fighters from leaving rebel-held parts of the city.
The Russian military said 169 civilians had left Aleppo through the three safe corridors since they were set up, including 85 on Friday and 52 on Saturday. In addition, 69 fighters had left after laying down their arms, according to a statement from Lt. Gen. Sergei Chvarkov, who heads the Russian center for reconciliation located in a military base in Syria. He said four more corridors were being created.
The Syrian government has set up six shelters that can accommodate at least 3,000 people, he said.
Syrian opposition activists expressed deep skepticism over the government's humanitarian corridors.
Aleppo-based opposition activist Baraa al-Halaby denied reports that civilians and fighters have left to government-held parts of the city.
"This is a game by the regime. Not a single person left," al-Halaby said. "The regime wants to say that civilians have left in order to burn Aleppo."
The Local Coordination Committees, a Syrian opposition monitoring group, denied that civilians and fighters were heading to government-held areas of the city. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said people have left opposition areas but provided no numbers.
The evacuation came a day after Staffan de Mistura, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, urged Russia to leave the creation of humanitarian corridors around Aleppo to the U.N. and its partners. Analysts said his comments were a gentle snub to Moscow, which had made the proposal a day earlier as pro-government troops tightened their encirclement of rebel-held parts of the northern Syrian city.
In comments carried later Friday by Russia's Interfax news agency, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Russia was willing to work with the U.N. on setting up the corridors. He said Russia is "ready for close and constructive cooperation with all international humanitarian organizations and, of course, with the office of the U.N. special envoy on Syria."
Opposition activists, meanwhile, reported airstrikes on several towns and villages in Aleppo province, including the village of Ibin where at least six people were killed, according to the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees.
Information for this article was contributed by Albert Aji and Lynn Berry of The Associated Press.
A Section on 07/31/2016