‘Capital of revolution’ back under Assad rule

THE Syrian government has reclaimed complete control of the country’s third-largest city and the “capital of the revolution”, in a major blow to an opposition that has lost huge swathes of territory in recent weeks.

The last of the rebels in Homs were evacuated from the district of al-waer on Sunday under a deal agreed with the Assad regime that will see them moved to Idlib, in northern Syria.

“The last bus has left the Waer neighbourhood. There are no more weapons or armed men in Waer. We can declare Homs to be a secure city,” said Talal Barazi, Homs’s provincial governor, adding that 20,000 people were evacuated in recent weeks.

The setback was a largely symbolic one as most opposition fighters left Homs in 2014, after two years of heavy bombardment and siege by regime forces.

It was dubbed the capital of the revolution after residents embraced the call to overthrow President Bashar al-assad in early 2011 and much of the city fell under the control of the opposition.

Homs is of geographic, strategic and economic importance as the only natural gateway from Syria’s Mediterranean coast to the interior. Retaking it secures the route from the seat of power in Damascus to Aleppo.

This month, rebels also began evacuating the last districts under their control in Damascus.