“The Harasta town in Eastern Ghouta in the Damascus countryside was announced empty of any terrorist existence after the second batch of fighters and their families who had refused reconciliation left for Idlib governorate,” SANA reported.
Harasta had been controlled by Ahrar Sham, an Islamist rebel group.
This second group included 3,034 individuals, amongst who were 1,072 fighters, according to SANA. They left the area on Friday. A first evacuation of 1,580 individuals, including 413 fighters, took place earlier this week.
As of late on Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry had reported 4,210 Ahrar Sham rebels and their families departed Eastern Ghouta over two days, according to Interfax news agency.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported around 3,000 individuals were bussed out on Friday.
The month-old offensive by the Syrian army and its allies against the isolated rebel-held enclave claimed the lives of over 1,600 civilians, according to the UK-based Observatory. The area was divided into three pockets, each held by a different faction.
The evacuations come after an agreement was made between Ahrar Sham and the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria. Regime troops control 90.5 percent of the rebel-held enclave after taking control of Ain Tarmah and Hazzah.
Al-Masdar news, a pro-Syrian government outlet, reported that those being evacuated from Eastern Ghouta will be transported to Afrin, rather than Idlib, and that the Turkish military has prepared tents and aid in Afrin.
A first convoy of 30 buses carrying 1,908 individuals from Harasta has arrived in Idlib, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency reported, adding that on the way a woman gave birth and an injured person died of their wounds.
“The agreement stipulates the transfer of civilians and fighters wanting to head to northern Syria and transferring the ill to Idlib or different hospitals in Damascus based on their wish, without touching any civilian wishing to remain in the city and allowing civilians to return to their homes,” Hassan al-Beiruti, the head of Harasta’s local council, told Anadolu.
The Faylaq al-Rahman rebel group had also reached an agreement with the Syrian regime to evacuate their ill and injured to hospitals in Damascus, with Russian guarantees that they won’t be pursued by the government, according to the Observatory.
Their agreement will also allow for fighters to leave alongside their families and civilians towards northern Syria, bringing light weapons.
It also stipulates that Ain Tarma, Arbin and Zamalka, a southern stretch of territory in the rebel enclave, will be cleared, reported AFP.
This will leave Douma as the sole Eastern Ghouta pocket not controlled by the Syrian government. It is currently held by Jaysh al-Islam and negotiations are ongoing between rebel commanders and Russia, the Observatory reported.
The situation is Eastern Ghouta has been described as hell on earth. A UN ceasefire resolution failed to take hold, but Russia reported that over 103,000 people left during humanitarian pauses.
This is not the first time that fighters and their families have left their positions for Idlib. A rebel hold out, the northwestern province is controlled by a myriad of Islamist fighters.
