Syrian rebels and families begin first evacuations from Damascus
HUNDREDS of Syrian rebel fighters and their families were evacuated from Damascus yesterday, bringing the Assad regime one step closer to recapturing all of the capital city.
Fighters in the district of Barzeh, which is besieged by regime forces, surrendered in exchange for safe passage to other opposition-held areas.
Some of the 1,500 men, women and children expected to leave were pictured boarding green government buses, carrying duffel bags and suitcases. They will be taken to the opposition stronghold of Idlib in northwestern Syria, where tens of thousands of rebels and activists have been sent under similar so-called reconciliation agreements.
Barzeh has been destroyed by years of fighting between regime forces and rebel fighters, which has intensified in recent weeks as the government tries to wrest back control of the capital.
The district is not included in the four designated “safe zones” agreed by Turkey, Russia and Iran at the latest peace talks in Kazakhstan. “The agreement was reached after the recent attacks and ongoing shelling on Barzeh neighbourhood, which was constantly targeted by regime forces,” said Ahmed al-khatieb, an activist.
One rebel source told The Daily Telegraph they felt under pressure to surrender to end the attacks and crippling siege on the civilian population.
The deal to evacuate Barzeh district mirrors reconciliation deals for opposition-held territory elsewhere in the country, including Aleppo and Homs.
Bashar al-assad’s government controls all but six districts of Damascus: Barzeh, Qabun, Jobar, Tishreen, Tadamun and the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk, which have a combined population of around 55,000.
“We are working on Qabun and there is the Yarmouk camp, where talks are under way for the evacuation of armed groups,” Walid Moallem, the foreign minister, said on state television yesterday. Reconciliation deals were the best way to end the intractable six-year-conflict, he said.
However, the opposition sees them as forced displacement which is part of Assad’s plan to redraw Syria along sectarian lines. The tactic has attracted international concern and claims the government is pursuing a “starve or surrender” policy.
The evacuation took place against the backdrop of the new agreement between Turkey, Russia and Iran – the main sponsors of the Syrian peace talks in Kazakhstan – to implement four “deconfliction zones” in the war-torn country. It mandates an end to hostilities, including air strikes, in specified zones for six months.
Damascus city, which is strategic territory for both sides, is not included in the deal.
The memorandum is seen as strengthening the government’s hand, freezing front lines with the rebels while allowing its troops to be redeployed to other battles.