A deal allowing civilians and rebel fighters to leave the Damascus suburb of Daraya was reached on Thursday (25 August).
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Syria’s army has surrounded rebels and civilians and blocked food deliveries in Daraya since 2012, regularly bombing the area just 7 km (4 miles) from President Bashar al Assad’s seat of power.
The deal and impending evacuation left residents “panicked” and “grief-stricken” on Friday, Daraya activist Hussam Ayash told NBC News via telephone.
Under the deal, the government is to allow safe exit to 700 gunmen and their families out of Daraya and let them head to the opposition-held northern province of Idlib.
Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 people, including 11 children, were killed in a barrel bomb attack by government forces in a rebel-held neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo.
In Geneva on Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met to discuss efforts to resume Syrian peace talks.
However, activists told Al Jazeera that they were extremely concerned over the safety of civilians, many of whom are relatives of the rebels, as the government offered little to no guarantees.
“This is the hardest moment, everyone is crying, young and old”, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Daraya, which lies in the western Ghouta region, has suffered thousands of helicopter-dropped unguided barrel bombs over the years.
During years of siege Daraya received only two humanitarian aid convoys, both this past June.
It describes the situation in Daraya as “extremely grave” and said it was “tragic” that repeated appeals to lift the siege of Daraya have never been heeded.
Middle East Eye published a passionate plea on 22 August, from 42 women living in and out of the besieged city, which urged the worldwide community to intervene and halt the use of napalm on Daraya by pro-government forces. “We withstood for four years but we couldn’t any longer”, he said, in tears.
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United Nations humanitarian coordinator Stephen O’Brien said in emailed remarks to Reuters: “We continue to demand free and safe access to Daraya and urge all parties to ensure that any movement of civilians now must be safe, voluntary and in accordance with worldwide humanitarian principles and laws”. The government had in recent months also encroached on the town’s agricultural farms the only source of food for the local population, which he estimated at 8,000.
