Rebel evacuation deal takes effect

At least 1,500 civilians and rebels evacuated an opposition district in Damascus yesterday, state media said, bringing the government closer to cementing its control over the Syrian capital.

The evacuations from the Qabun district in northeast Damascus follow similar departures from the Barzeh and Tishrin neighbourhoods earlier this week.

An AFP correspondent inside Qabun saw around a dozen white buses carrying out residents and fighters in the morning, after a deal for the neighbourhood was announced late Saturday following heavy fighting.

At the edge of the district, two women embraced and wept as they faced the prospect of parting ways.

Suad, 22, was leaving behind her friend Mona, also 22, to follow her family to Idlib province, a rebel-held area in the northwest of the country.

"I didn't want to leave, but I have to stay with my family, and they prefer to go Idlib after my uncle left with the group from Barzeh," said Suad, wearing a white headscarf and a blue top.

Those evacuating carried small bags with them as they boarded the buses, while others who had decided to stay registered their names at a military post.

The evacuation deal came on Saturday night after government forces advanced inside the neighbourhood.

"The Syrian army yesterday managed to encircle dozens of armed elements inside Qabun neighbourhood, forcing them to surrender and hand over their weapons," a source from the pro-regime National Defence Forces militia told AFP.