Rebel fighters begin leaving Douma after weeks of battles
Rebel fighters have begun leaving the devastated Syrian city of Douma in the first phase of a Russiansponsored deal to evacuate thousands of rebels from the besieged enclave, state media said.
A bus carrying dozens of fighters and their families left the city on Sunday en route to oppositionheld areas in northern Syria in an arrangement expected to take several days.
Almost simultaneously, a first batch of freed hostages held by the rebels in Douma arrived at an army-controlled crossing, state television showed.
They received a euphoric welcome from hundreds of relatives waiting for them before being whisked away to a reception centre.
Both developments were part of a Russian-sponsored deal sealed on Sunday that grants safe passage to thousands of rebels from their biggest remaining bastion near Damascus in return for rebel group Jaish al-Islam releasing hundreds of hostages and prisoners of war.
The agreement will be enforced by Russian military police, who will enter the city, opposition negotiators said.
The deal brought President Bashar al-Assad one of his biggest victories over the rebels since driving them from Aleppo in December 2016, though they remain entrenched in significant areas of northwestern and southwestern Syria.
It follows a seven-week government offensive to capture the towns and villages on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, in which more than 1,600 people have been killed, according rescuers and a monitoring group.
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