AKIPRESS.COM - The evacuation of Syrian civilians and rebels from eastern Aleppo is expected to continue for a second day.

More than 3,000 people were bussed out of devastated districts on Thursday, but the UN says as many as 50,000 are still trapped there, BBC reported.

Government forces, backed by Russian allies, took nearly all remaining rebel-held parts of Aleppo this week.

The US accused the Syrian government of carrying out "nothing short of a massacre" in the city.

"The only remaining question is whether the Syrian regime, with Russia's support, is willing to go to Geneva prepared to negotiate constructively, and whether or not they're willing to stop this slaughter of their own people," US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Syria and Russia have repeatedly denied targeting civilians.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday hailed the "liberation" of Aleppo after more than four years of fighting, saying that history was being made.

"Some 3,000 civilians and more than 40 wounded, including children, were brought out," the head of the International Red Cross in Syria, Marianne Gasser, said after two convoys left on Thursday.