The End Of The Daraya Siege

As the first white government bus carrying evacuees emerged from Daraya carrying mostly women and children, Syrian army soldiers swarmed the vehicle, shouting pro-Assad slogans.

The deal concluded for Daraya included the departure of the rebels who don’t want to reconcile with the government along with their families to rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Civilians and rebels who were evacuated from the besieged Damascus suburb of Daraya, after an agreement reached on Thursday between rebels and Syria’s army, arrive in the rebel-controlled city of Idlib August 27, 2016. “This is a deal that the rebels had to sign and we will now see civilians moved to Sahnaya – a town in Damascus governorate – under regime control”, he said.

Under the deal, the government is to allow safe exit to hundreds of gunmen and their families out of Darayya and let them head to the militant-held northern province of Idlib. He said another village to the west also came under attack late Wednesday but said it was not clear if it was from Turkish-backed forces or from Islamic State militants. “It’s hard, but we have no choice”, he told the AP, speaking from inside Daraya.

The arrivals were the first since the evacuation of the town just outside Damascus began on Friday under an agreement between the government and the rebels.

In this handout provided by the United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Residents wait in line to receive food aid distributed in the Yarmouk refugee camp on January 31, 2014 in Damascus, Syria. It had a population of almost 80,000 Sunnis who were reduced to 4,000 during the last four years, according to United Nations figures. And, “for people in nearby holdout suburbs, it was ominous”.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two barrel bombs struck minutes apart in a rebel-held part of the city.

United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said a small team of United Nations and Red Cross aid workers would travel to Daraya “to meet with all parties and identify the key issues for the civilians”.

SANA, citing one of its reporters, said buses entered the city Saturday “to evacuate more people and gunmen”.

Daraya provided a stark example of the price of rebuffing truce overtures. Since early June, Darayya has come under attack nearly daily, with the Syrian government accused of using barrel bombs, shelling and incendiary weapons. “Tell them that the great powers do not want us to be a free people”.

Residents said the situation became unbearable after the town’s remaining field hospital was bombed and destroyed last week. After meeting off and on with Lavrov for almost 10 hours, Kerry said the two “have achieved clarity” on a path to restore a truce in Syria but details remain to be worked out.