Syrian rebels start leaving last opposition-held Homs district

PanARMENIAN.Net - Syrian rebels started leaving the last opposition-held district of Homs city on Saturday, May 20 in the final phase of an evacuation deal that will see President Bashar al-Assad's government take back the area in the seventh year of the country's war, Reuters reports.

At least one bus left al-Waer carrying fighters and their families, and dozens more were expected to follow to bring some 2,500 people out of the district long besieged by government forces and their allies.

The evacuation of al-Waer is one of the largest of its kind. It follows a number of similar deals in recent months that have brought many parts of western Syria long held by the opposition and besieged by government and allied forces back under Assad's control.

The deal, backed by Syria's ally Russia, began to be implemented in March. Thousands of people have left in a several stages. By the time it is completed, up to 20,000 people will have left the district, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says.

Many of the rebels are to head for insurgent-held Idlib province in Syria's northwest and to the town of Jarablus along the country's northern border with Turkey, pro-Damascus media reported. Some will stay in al-Waer and hand over their weapons as Syria's military and its allies move in.

A Russian officer helping oversee the deal's implementation told reporters Russian military police would help with the transition.

"Russia has a guarantor role in this agreement. Russian military police will stay, and will carry out duties inside the district," Sergei Druzhin said through an Arabic interpreter.

Syria's government calls the evacuation deals, which have also taken place in besieged areas around Damascus, and in Aleppo at the end of last year, reconciliation agreements. It says they allow services and security to be restored.

The opposition has criticized the agreements, however, saying they amount to forced displacement of Assad's opponents away from Syria's main urban centers, often after years of siege and bombardment.