Evacuation of thousands begins in Syria
Rebels, government agree to allow 7,000 civilians to transfer between areas
BEIRUT— The Syrian government and rebels evacuated more than 7,000 people from four besieged towns Friday in the latest co-ordinated population transfer in Syria’s six-yearlong civil war.
As diplomacy in Moscow focused on the U.S. airstrikes targeting the country, more than 2,350 people were bused out of the twin towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus. Another 5,000 people were evacuated on 75 buses from northern rebel-besieged towns of Foua and Kefraya, according to Abdul Hakim Baghdadi, a pro-government interlocutor who helped negotiate the transfer from the latter two towns.
“Honestly, when we left Madaya, I felt sadness, anger and sorrow. But now, on the road, I don’t feel any- thing. I feel cold as ice,” said Muhammad Darwish, a resident bused out of Madaya, besieged by pro-government forces in the mountains west of the capital.
“There was no heating, no food, nothing to sustain our lives. We left so that God willing (the siege) may ease on those who remain,” said Ahmad Afandar, 19, another evacuee. His parents stayed behind.
In a video posted on Facebook from one of the buses departing Madaya, a man identified as Hossam said, “We were forced to leave. We left our land, our parents, our memories, our childhood — everything.”
He signed off defiantly, however. “I have conviction that we will be back.”
Evacuees from the pro-government towns were dropped in one area of government-controlled Aleppo city, before being transported to a temporary shelter camp in another part of the city.
A provincial governor, Alaa Ibrahim, said the government is set to restore its control over the towns once it is satisfied that no armed men remain.
Critics have denounced the deal as a forced rearrangement of the country’s population, with sectarian overtones. Through a deft policy of divide and conquer, President Bashar Assad has steered what started as a broad movement against his authority in 2011 into a choice between him and Sunni Islamist rule. Madaya and Zabadani are believed to now be wholly inhabited by Sunnis. The predominantly Shiite Foua and Kefraya have remained loyal to the Syrian government, while the surrounding Idlib province has come under hardline Sunni rebel rule.
The evacuation deal was brokered by Qatar, negotiating on behalf of the rebels, and Iran, on behalf of the government, in March. The UN is not supervising the evacuations.
When Friday’s evacuations are completed, they will be the first in number of rounds stretching over two months to evacuate some 30,000 Syrians from besieged areas. Another 3,000 people were expected to be bused out of Foua and Kefraya on Friday evening, according to Baghdadi.
In Moscow, the foreign ministers of Russia, Syria and Iran strongly warned the United States against launching new strikes on Syria, after it targeted an airbase with a volley of missiles last week.
It was in response to a chemical weapons attack on April 4 on a northern Syrian town that Washington blamed on Damascus. Almost 90 people were killed, including 27 children.