Syrian rebels abandon key town in eastern Ghouta enclave

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels and their families boarded government buses before departing a besieged town in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus on Thursday, in a deal that could see the bombed-out town handed over to the government following years of siege.

It is the first such arrangement for a town inside the enclave, which has endured more than a month of relentless shelling and bombardment as the government, backed by its ally Russia, pushed to retake the region after seven years of revolt.

Hundreds of people, including fighters, were loaded into more than a dozen buses lined up along a main highway just outside the town of Harasta before heading to opposition-held parts of northern Syria. Syrian TV said they included 1,824 people and 319 fighters.

Carrying their light weapons, some of the fighters left their buses and prayed on the Harasta highway.

As rebels prepared to depart the town of Harasta, thousands of civilians streamed out of other areas in eastern Ghouta that were still being bombed by the government. They included dozens of civilians who appeared to be wounded, some hobbling on crutches, another with an eye injury.

The government’s assault has sparked a tide of displacement in the Damascus suburbs as civilians try to escape the violence. Some have moved deeper into the rebel-held enclave, while some 50,000 others have crossed the front-lines, to government authorities.

The government’s air and ground assault, which escalated Feb. 18, has seen the once sprawling territory at the doors of the capital shrink to three disconnected rebel-held islands. The evacuation by Ahrar al-Sham rebels from Harasta, if it goes through Thursday, could serve as a blueprint for rebels in other towns, bringing President Bashar Assad’s government closer to recapturing the entire territory.

The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders said the advancing government forces had captured or destroyed 19 of the 20 hospitals the group was supporting just one week ago. It said medical staff were fleeing the approaching front lines.

Rebels and the government exchanged 18 prisoners ahead of the Harasta evacuation, according to pro-government media.