The United Nations says the evacuation of eastern Aleppo has concluded with more than 35,000 people brought out of the city. However, the director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, says there are still 700,000 Syrian civilians trapped in "besieged locations" across the war-torn country.

"While supporting the evacuation process was our immediate priority, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Syria has also submitted a formal written request to the government of Syria seeking a blanket travel authorization to Aleppo for all UN senior staff in country as well as humanitarian access to parts of Aleppo retaken by the government yesterday. Despite calls for an end to besiegement as a tactic of war, we end 2016 with hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians, 700,000 to be precise, still trapped in besieged locations where humanitarians continue to struggle to gain access for aid," said director John Ging.