A first group of rebels and their families evacuated from the Syrian town of Daraya after four years of government siege have reached opposition-held territory, a monitor said on Saturday.
Advertisement
Last December, Syrian rebels evacuated the last district they controlled in the central city of Homs, a major symbol of the uprising, after a siege that lasted nearly three years.
“The Syrian army completely controls Daraya and has entered all of the town. There isn’t a single armed man there”. Civilians are expected to be transferred to government-run reception centres for processing and resettlement.
Turkey’s state news agency says the Turkish Military Joint Special Task Forces and coalition airplanes have targeted the bases of suspected “terror groups” south of the Syrian town of Jarablus.
Some opposition groups also criticised the deal, calling it a major setback as Sunnis would be forced from their homes, further fracturing the country along sectarian lines.
The government has adopted siege tactics in several areas with considerable success.
Rebel fighters pulled out of Syria’s third city Homs past year under a similar evacuation deal.
It also improves security around Assad’s seat of power, pacifying an entire region southwest of Damascus that was once a backbone of the rebellion.
At the same time, however, at least 15 people died in barrel bombings in Aleppo.
Meanwhile in Syria’s second city, Aleppo, a bloody battle was in full flow.
Over the next four years, barrel bombs blasted the city.
Turkish police and firefighters are parked near a damaged police headquarters after a vehicle bomb killed 11 Turkish police officers and injured 45 people on Friday in Cizre, southeastern Turkey.
The first phase of the Darayya agreement to surrender the town to the Syrian government has concluded after more than 300 militants from Liwaa Shuhada Al-Islam and Ajnad Al-Sham were transferred to the Idlib Governorate. Minutes later, Khandakani said another barrel bomb was dropped, injuring an ambulance driver, and hampering rescue efforts.
The United Nations envoy to Syria urged warring parties to state by Sunday whether they will commit to a 48-hour ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into Aleppo. Rebels and a regime delegation signed a truce allowing civilians and fighters transportation out of the destroyed city.
Advertisement
Reporting from Geneva, Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays said the Syrian government’s “starvation of surrender policy has actually worked because they have now managed to close down Daraya and remove everyone from Daraya”.
