Civilians and rebel fighters who were evacuated from the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya, after an agreement reached on Thursday between rebels and Syria’s army, arrive in the rebel-controlled Qalaat Al-Madiq town in Hama province on Saturday.
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The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights statement said Daraya is clear of gunmen and under the control of the Syrian army, which was conducting inspections in the city. “There isn’t a single armed man there”, the source said of the insurgents, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Black smoke rose on the horizon – caused by the rebels burning their belongings before evacuating, according to Syrian army soldiers.
Still, the agency didn’t give the final number of evacuees, but all pro-government news outlets stated that the city has become empty.
It was unclear exactly when residents and fighters would start leaving the devastated town near the capital Damascus that has been under rebel control since 2012.
Three main rebel groups had been in control of the town ahead of the evacuation deal, namely the Levant Martyr Brigade, the Brigade of the Mother of Believers and the Levant’s Soldiers.
“With our blood and our souls, we sacrifice ourselves for you, O Bashar!” soldiers chanted of President Bashar al-Assad as the buses drove by. An estimated 4,000 civilians will be sheltered in an area further south. “It was the first time for them”, said 30-year-old Houda. In a statement issued in Geneva, he said the United Nations was not consulted or involved in the negotiation of the deal reached between rebel factions and government forces.
After the success of the deal in Daraya, talks are not being reported to have been taking place to implement a similar scenario in the adjacent town of Muadamiey, another rebel stronghold west of Damascus.
Located just southwest of Damascus, Daraya has been pummeled by government airstrikes, barrel bombs and fighting over the years. Long sieges have compelled opposition forces to abandon territory, which has encouraged the government to adopt “surrender or starve” tactic even more widely.
Anti-regime activists have condemned what they called the forced displacement of Daraya’s inhabitants.
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It comes days after another 15 people, mostly children, were killed in another reported barrel bombing in a rebel-held part of Aleppo.
