Rebels' evacuation from Syrian town continues

The evacuation of the Syrian armed opposition groups and civilians from Syria's old city of Homs is still ongoing, Homs provincial Governor Talal Barazi said Friday.

The rebels' evacuation from the old city of Homs is a part of a deal concluded recently between the Syrian government troops and the armed militant groups, Xinhua reported.

The deal went into effect earlier last week with a ceasefire Wednesday and the departure of around 968 rebels and civilians from districts of old Homs to the town of al-Dar al-Kabira in northern Homs.

In exchange, the rebels agreed to break their siege on the pro-government towns of Nubul and Zahra in the northern province of Aleppo and to release the people and soldiers they had kidnapped before.

A total of 1,823 rebel fighters out of 2,183 have so far been evacuated, Barazi said, adding that around 360 others were still inside the old city awaiting their evacuation.

Yakoub al-Hilo, a UN official overseeing the process in Homs city, said Thursday that both parties of the deal were showing full commitment to get the deal done.

The old city of Homs, which has many ancient neighbourhoods, has been besieged by the government troops since two years ago.

The Syrian army has recently unleashed an offensive to recapture the few remaining rebel-held areas in old Homs.

However, the deal has secured the government control over the area and evacuation of the rebels without bloodshed.

The Syrian armed forces will enter the areas and dismantle roadside bombs and sand barriers and will take over the rebels' heavy weaponry, allowing them to leave with light weapons only.

After the full evacuation, the entire city of Homs would be under government control except the al-Waer neighbourhood, whose rebels have rejected the deal.