syrian army soldiers fire tracer bullets into the air to celebrate their victory outside Harasta in eastern Ghouta, in Damascus, Syria March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki
It comes after a month-long assault that devastated the
already battered eastern Ghouta, an area of farmland and towns that was
one of the first centers of the uprising in 2011 and the last major
rebel stronghold near the capital Damascus.
Ten
buses carrying fighters along with their families and other civilians
started to leave the enclave after dark, the vanguard of a convoy
heading into exile in northwestern Syria.
It follows
the departure of thousands of others on Friday from the town of Harasta
in a similar deal for insurgents to depart with light weapons in return
for giving up their territory.
The buses queued at a
crossing point before moving into the enclave along a road on the former
front lines that had been cleared of barricades, debris and unexploded
ordnance.
Some captives held by the insurgents were released and state television showed them leaving in a minibus.
The
army was advancing into towns the rebels had retreated from in
preparation for their exit, state television said. It broadcast pictures
of the massive trenches and other fortifications the rebels were
leaving behind.
It means only Douma is left of the opposition’s eastern
Ghouta enclave which a month ago the United Nations said was home to
400,000 people.
The army offensive to capture it,
heralded by one of the heaviest bombardments in the seven-year conflict
with warplanes, helicopters and artillery, has killed more than 1,600
people, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor.
Residents
and rights groups have accused the government of using weapons that
kill indiscriminately - inaccurate barrel bombs dropped from
helicopters, chlorine gas and incendiary material that sets raging
fires.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his
close ally Russia, which has helped his air campaign, have denied using
all those weapons and say their offensive was needed to end the rule of
Islamist militants over civilians.
Buses are seen entering into rebels Harasta area in eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria March 23, 2018. REUTERS/ Omar Sanadiki
EVACUATION
About 7,000 people - fighters along
with family members and other civilians who do not wish to come back
under Assad’s rule - were to leave the towns of Zamalka, Arbin, Ein
Terma and Jobar starting on Saturday, rebels and state media said.
They
will go to Idlib province in the northwest - the destination for many
such “evacuations” after sieges and ground offensives forced numerous
rebel enclaves to surrender in the past two years.
It will not mean an end to their experience of war. Syrian
military and Russian air raids on Idlib have increased in the past week,
killing dozens of people.
Idlib is also unsettled by
fighting between the rebel groups. On Saturday, an explosion at a
headquarters for al Qaeda’s former affiliate killed at least seven
people and injured 25 others.
The Britain-based
Observatory said there were also negotiations with the Jaish al-Islam
rebel group that controls Douma to release prisoners.
Russia
will guarantee that civilians who remain in the areas recaptured by
Assad will not be prosecuted, rebels said on Friday. However, rights
groups have said some men were forcibly conscripted after fleeing the
fighting.
Wael Alwan, spokesman for the
Failaq al-Rahman group that was dominant in Zamalka, Arbin, Ein Terma
and Jobar, was quoted by al-Hadath television on Saturday as saying he
did not trust Russia’s guarantees.
A Russian military webcam at the al-Wafideen crossing point
near Douma showed small groups of civilians continuing to flee the
danger of further bombardment into government territory, carrying
children and sacks of belongings.
Russia’s military said more than 105,000 people had left eastern Ghouta, including over 700 on Saturday.
Tens
of thousands have fled their homes in the past week as the bombardment
of Douma intensified and refugees from other parts of Ghouta found the
basement bomb shelters too full to take them.
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