Syrian rebels evacuate from Daraa

Deal would pave way for the city to come under govt control

DARAA, Syria — Hundreds of Syrian rebels and their relatives left the southern city of Daraa on Sunday under a deal to bring the city back under government control.

Just hours after the transfers, Syria accused Israel of trying to support the rebels by targeting a Syrian army position in the war-ravaged country’s north.

After securing Damascus in May, the Syrian government turned its attention to rebels in the strategic south, where unrest first erupted in 2011.

Nearly three weeks of bombardment saw beleaguered rebels agree earlier this month to hand over Daraa province, before reaching a similar deal for its capital this week.

In recent days, rebels have handed heavy-duty arms and equipment to government forces who entered the city’s rebel-held southern districts for the first time in years and raised the national flag.

On Sunday, rebels and civilians who did not want to live under government control were granted safe passage to opposition-held Idlib in Syria’s northwest.

Hundreds of fighters and some relatives, carrying suitcases packed with clothes, boarded around 15 buses in Daraa city, AFP’s correspondent there said.

The official news agency SANA said on Sunday that Daraa’s rebels released five male hostages into government custody and also surrendered more heavy and medium weaponry.

That would pave the way for the entire city to come under government control in accordance with the handover deal.

A small group of Syrian soldiers took up positions in Daraa al-Balad on Sunday, a key rebel-held quarter, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor.

It said 430 people including civilians and rebels from the city and wider province were evacuated, far fewer than the 1,400 expected to leave.

Strikes from Israel

The government fully regaining Daraa will be a significant blow to the opposition.

The unrest in 2011 then turned into a civil war in which 350,000 people were killed and millions were displaced.

The government has regained much of the territory it lost to rebels, and now controls more than 60 percent of Syria.

In the south, it holds 80 percent of Daraa province but parts of its western countryside and most of the adjacent province of Quneitra still escape its control.

Late on Sunday, as a response to the military progress, Israel launched missiles on a Syrian military base in the country’s northern province of Aleppo, state news agency SANA reported, adding that the attack caused damage but no injuries.

It said the strikes were an attempt by Israel to support rebels in southern Syria.

However, the Observatory said at least nine pro-government fighters died in the strike.

The attack is the latest in a string of similar airstrikes and missile attacks launched recently by Israel against Syrian military positions.

The base is a logistics hub used to provide equipment and food to pro-regime forces fighting at nearby fronts, but it did not store weapons, said Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory.

On July 11, the Syrian air defenses responded to an Israeli attack on Syrian positions in the southern province of Quneitra.

Israeli warplanes fired several rockets on some Syrian military positions in the vicinity of the towns of Hadar, and Tal Kurum Jaba in the countryside of Quneitra, damaging buildings.