Syria opposition agrees final evacuation from Homs district

Syria's government and opposition said Monday they had agreed a Russian-supervised deal to complete the evacuation of fighters and civilians from the last rebel-held part of Homs city.

The new agreement aims to finalise implementation of a "reconciliation deal" that has already seen several phases of rebel evacuation from Waer district, but which had stalled in recent months.

State news agency SANA said rebels and their families wishing to leave Waer would begin evacuating from Saturday, and the process would last no longer than two months.

"The implementation of the Waer operation will be in cooperation with the Russian reconciliation office, the police and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent," Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi told journalists.

"The police and Red Crescent will supervise the exit and the agreement, and the Russian forces will coordinate and secure the route," he added.

A summary of the agreement shared by the opposition National Coalition said that those evacuating Waer would go to rebel-held north Homs province, Jarabulus in Aleppo province or Idlib province.

It also said a military contingent of 60-100 Russian troops would deploy in Waer to monitor the deal's implementation and the safety of remaining residents and returning civilians.

It said the Russian force would be responsible for "preventing the arrest of residents of Waer" and stopping militias allied with the government from entering the district.

"Syrian forces and Russian forces bear full responsibility for the safety of those leaving Waer neighbourhood," the summary said.

Three waves of rebels and their families have already quit Waer under a deal first agreed in December 2015.

The original agreement envisioned rebels and their families leaving the district by January 2016, with police but not soldiers then reentering to take control.

The deal stalled, although two additional waves of evacuations took place in September 2016.

Over the past month, government forces have stepped up bombardment of the district, killing dozens of people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

And no aid has reached the area in at least four months, with a UN convoy that attempted to reach Waer in February seized by gunmen who diverted the assistance to a government-held area.

Syria's government has agreed "reconciliation" deals in several rebel-held areas, and touts the local agreements that grants safe passage to surrendering fighters as key to ending the country's war.

But the opposition says it is forced into such deals by siege and bombardment.

source: AFP