Rebel-held eastern Aleppo in northern Syria may face “total destruction” in two months, with thousands killed, the UN’s Syria envoy has said, the BBC reports.

Staffan de Mistura told reporters that he was prepared to personally accompany al-Qaeda-linked jihadists out of the city if it would stop the fighting.

He also appealed to Russia and Syria not to destroy the city for the sake of eliminating militants.

The UN says 275,000 civilians are trapped in the war-torn east of Aleppo.

“The bottom line is, in a maximum of two months… the city of eastern Aleppo at this rate may be totally destroyed,” Mr de Mistura told a news conference in Geneva.

“Thousands of Syrian civilians, not terrorists, will be killed and many of them wounded.”

He added: “This is what you, we, the world will be seeing when we will be trying to celebrate Christmas, or the end of the year, if this continues at this rate, unimpeded. Homs [Syrian city] multiplied by 50.”

He said the UN was not willing to “be passive, resign ourselves” to genocides such as those in Srebrenica and Rwanda.