NEW YORK, December 6. /TASS/. The Syrian government forces are close to retaking the militant-controlled eastern districts of Aleppo, the Wall Street Journal said, citing militant and civilian sources.

Signs mount that the opposition in the city "faces potential collapse" from the Syrian regime’s latest offensive, the paper said late Monday.

The militants "estimate that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and their allies now hold some 60% of the territory in the city the opposition controlled just over a week ago, though the situation remains fluid and difficult to assess," the report says.

The Wall Street Journal said a number of militants have already joined the estimated 30,000 people who fled into government-controlled areas last week. Others "are thinking of leaving as well because they have become exhausted [by] the situation," the paper quoted Mohammad Al-Sheikh, a member of a militant faction in Aleppo, as saying.

"Their spirits are low. They are in despair over not being able to break the siege," he said.

Last week, civilian leaders formed a negotiating committee to discuss a truce agreement with the Syrian government, but they were unable to establish contact with the pro-government forces, the paper reported.