Syrian general says Aleppo operation in final stages

Civilians wait outside a government military police centre to visit their relatives, who were evacuated from the eastern districts of Aleppo and are being prepared to begin their military service, in Aleppo, Syria December 11, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - The Syrian military operation to recapture rebel-held east Aleppo is in its final stages after the army took Sheikh Saeed and other districts, Lieutenant General Zaid al-Saleh, head of the Aleppo security committee, said on Monday. "The battle in east Aleppo should end quickly. They (rebels) don't have much time. They either have to surrender or die," he told a group of reporters in the recaptured Sheikh Saeed district. (Reporting By Laila Bassam in Aleppo; Writing by Angus McDowall in Beirut; editing by John Stonestreet)