DAMASCUS: Syria's government has reached an agreement for rebels to leave their battered holdout of Douma for an opposition-held town in the country's north, state media reported yesterday, reports AFP.

The official news agency SANA, citing a government source, said the agreement would see "the departure of all so-called Jaish al-Islam terrorists to Jarablus within 48 hours".

In exchange Jaish al-Islam would release hostages it had been holding, the source said.

SANA reported dozens of buses were already entering Douma to begin the evacuations.

The deal came a day after a reported chemical attack that killed dozens of people in Douma, which prompted global outrage but which Syria and its ally Russia have brushed off as "fabrications."