Syria’s army and Rebels have agreed to evacuate all residents and insurgents from the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya, ending one of the longest stand offs in the five year conflict.
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The Syrian army encircled Darayya in 2012 and according to reports, just one aid delivery has reached the town since then.
The town was under siege for four years.
Daraya is located just 15 minutes drive from Damascus and is even closer to the government’s Mazzeh air base.
Syrian rebel-groups backed by Turkey say they are clashing with fighters affiliated with Kurdish forces in northern Syria, in a bid to wrestle control of territory from them south of a town they recently seized from Islamic State militants.
The agreement is seen as a major defeat for the opposition and has provoked anger among its supporters.
Sources told Al Jazeera that about 8,000 civilians and 800 rebels would be evacuated from the Damascus suburb, which before the war was home to a quarter of a million people.
Aid convoys arranged by the medical charity Red Crescent entered the suburb early on Friday, as hundreds of rebel fighters prepared to lay down their arms and cede control of the area to government forces.
In several places, lengthy government sieges have prompted rebels to agree evacuation deals with the regime, leading activists to accuse Damascus of using “starve or surrender” tactics. “They headed to Idlib inhabited area on buses”, the ministry said in a daily bulletin posted on its website.
As the first white bus with rebels and their families emerged from Daraya, Syrian army soldiers swarmed the vehicle, shouting pro-Assad slogans.
Daraya provided a stark example of the price of rebuffing truce overtures.
The surrender of Darayya to Syrian government forces heralds a new strategy in the Syrian slaughter house.
The U.N.’s humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien told the U.N. Security Council earlier this year that severe food shortages were forcing some people in Daraya to eat grass.
Residents said the situation became unbearable after the town’s remaining field hospital was bombed and destroyed last week.
In recent months, government forces have made a number of advances outside the capital.
“We had hoped someone would stand by us and put some pressure on the regime”. “What will happen to men of military age like my husband?” she said.
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On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov “have achieved clarity on the path forward” on ceasefire discussions, but there were “narrow issues” still to resolve. After meeting off and on with Lavrov for almost 10 hours, Kerry said the two “have achieved clarity” on a path to restore a truce in Syria but details remain to be worked out.
