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Rebels and activists in Aleppo are ready to fight to the death rather than accept Russian offers to allow a withdrawal and end the battle, they said last night. The Times reports.

Teachers, doctors and activists who have stayed in the city and publicised the effects of bombing by the Assad regime said that they feared for their lives if they fell into regime hands, but would not quit or surrender.

“Death will be a better choice for me,” Abdulkafi al-Hamdo, a teacher who has been in regular contact with journalists, said. “We are surrounded — how can we escape?”

Another activist said that he was considering taking up arms for the first time and joining the rebels as they planned their last-ditch defence.

Pro-Assad forces made more gains in rebel-held districts over the weekend and yesterday morning, putting more pressure on the rebels and on civilian activists to take up offers of amnesty.

American officials had already asked rebel spokesmen at the weekend if they would be prepared to give up. They were also refused. “[The rebels] are the owners of this land, and nobody has the right to ask them to leave,” Zakaria Malahefji, a spokesman for the Fastaqim brigade, told The Times from Turkey.