Evacuation of Three Syrian Towns is Underway Thanks to Rare Ceasefire Deal

Earlier in the month, foreign-backed forces began evacuating the last militant-held district in Syria’s western city of Homs, in accordance to a deal reached with the government in Damascus.

The UN-brokered deal provided for a ceasefire to allow in humanitarian aid and then for the evacuation of wounded civilians and fighters.

Another deal, that sought to extract over 2,000 Islamic State fighters from south Damascus, was scuttled last week in a blow to United Nations efforts to end a years-long government siege of parts of the city controlled by a patchwork of rebel and jihadist groups that has impeded the flow of food and humanitarian aid, starving many people to death.

The cross-border swap happened due to the logistical situation on ground, as several rebel groups are controlling roads between Zabadani and Kafraya and Foa, some refusing to cooperate in facilitating the passing of the busses from the aforementioned areas.

Relatives and well-wishers who had waited for hours on the Lebanese border cheered buses carrying the fighters as they drove by towards Beirut airport, and some families wept as they strained for glimpses of their loved ones, a witness said.

According to the observatory, the evacuees will travel from the Beirut airport to Turkey, and will then cross into rebel-held territory in Syria. The 330 Shi’ites were evacuated from the Idlib towns to the Lebanese capital of Beirut, where they were welcomed by Hezbollah.

At the same time as the Zabadani transports, about 336 people – including women and children – were being evacuated from the two Shia villages, which are in Idlib.

Local reports said in September that the agreement, which has been concluded between an Iranian delegation, representing Syrian government, and the Jaish al-Fateh and Ahrar al-Sham rebels, will include halting battles in other areas, such as towns adjacent to Zabadani, namely Madaya, Buqain, Surghaya and the surrounding military posts. It had previously been subjected to intense attacks by government forces and Hezbollah fighters hoping to capture the town.

At least 14 people were also killed yesterday and 90 wounded in two suicide bombings in the central city of Homs. A wounded fighter was carried on a stretcher into a Syrian Arab Red Crescent ambulance that was expected to ferry him to the border where he will be given to the Lebanese Red Cross.

The evacuations were taking place Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group that monitors the conflict, and Al-Manar TV, a Hezbollah-affiliated station.