Syria rebels begin leaving Homs under truce deal

AFP, HOMS: Hundreds of Syrian rebels and civilians began evacuating the last opposition-held district in the central city of Homs Wednesday under a local ceasefire deal reached with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The deal agreed at the start December, a rare agreement between the regime and rebel forces, will leave the city once dubbed the “capital” of Syria’s revolution fully under government control.
Some 2,000 rebels and their families will abandon the Waer district in Homs to travel to other opposition-held areas, after years of siege and heavy shelling.
The evacuation comes as a broad range of Syrian opposition groups, including armed factions, hold unprecedented talks in the Saudi capital on forming a united front for peace talks with Assad.
The talks follow a major diplomatic push to resolve Syria’s nearly five-year civil war, and intensified foreign military action including Russia’s first strikes from a submarine Tuesday.
An AFP journalist in Homs saw women and children quietly boarding white buses as the evacuation began early on Wednesday. Many appeared haggard but some smiled, waved and gave the thumbs-up from inside the buses.
More than 100 opposition fighters, some carrying light weapons, boarded five green buses further away.
Provincial Governor Talal Barazi told reporters that some 700 people—including 400 women and children and 300 fighters—would be evacuated from the district Wednesday, with more to follow by the end of the week.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the buses were to head to the northwestern province of Idlib, held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance which includes Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
Under the deal, Waer’s rebel forces, who range from secular fighters to jihadists including Al-Nusra militants, are to completely leave the district by the end of January.
Once the evacuation is complete, police, but not troops, will reenter the district, where some 75,000 people currently live, down from 300,000 before the conflict began.
Homs saw some of the largest protests of the early uprising against Assad in 2011, and later some of the fiercest fighting after opposition forces took up weapons in response to a government crackdown.
Regaining total control of the city is an important symbolic victory for the regime, which has lost large swathes of the surrounding province to rebels and the Islamic State jihadist group.

Syria rebels begin leaving Homs under truce deal

AFP, HOMS: Hundreds of Syrian rebels and civilians began evacuating the last opposition-held district in the central city of Homs Wednesday under a local ceasefire deal reached with President Bashar al-Assads regime. The deal agreed at the start December, a rare agreement between the regime and rebel forces, will leave the city once dubbed the capital of Syrias revolution fully under government control. Some 2,000 rebels and their families will abandon the Waer district in Homs to travel to other opposition-held areas, after years of siege and heavy shelling. The evacuation comes as a broad range of Syrian opposition groups, including armed factions, hold unprecedented talks in the Saudi capital on forming a united front for peace talks with Assad. The talks follow a major diplomatic push to resolve Syrias nearly five-year civil war, and intensified foreign military action including Russias first strikes from a submarine Tuesday. An AFP journalist in Homs saw women and children quietly boarding white buses as the evacuation began early on Wednesday. Many appeared haggard but some smiled, waved and gave the thumbs-up from inside the buses. More than 100 opposition fighters, some carrying light weapons, boarded five green buses further away. Provincial Governor Talal Barazi told reporters that some 700 peopleincluding 400 women and children and 300 fighterswould be evacuated from the district Wednesday, with more to follow by the end of the week. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the buses were to head to the northwestern province of Idlib, held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance which includes Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front. Under the deal, Waers rebel forces, who range from secular fighters to jihadists including Al-Nusra militants, are to completely leave the district by the end of January. Once the evacuation is complete, police, but not troops, will reenter the district, where some 75,000 people currently live, down from 300,000 before the conflict began. Homs saw some of the largest protests of the early uprising against Assad in 2011, and later some of the fiercest fighting after opposition forces took up weapons in response to a government crackdown. Regaining total control of the city is an important symbolic victory for the regime, which has lost large swathes of the surrounding province to rebels and the Islamic State jihadist group.