This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syrian government forces overseeing the evacuation by buses of Army of Islam fighters and their families from the besieged town of Douma, just east of Damascus, Syria, Monday, April 2, 2018. The most powerful Syrian rebel faction on the fringes of Damascus began abandoning its stronghold in the once rebel-held enclave of eastern Ghouta on Monday, opening the way for government forces to secure full control of the area, after seven years of revolt. (SANA via AP)
April 03, 2018 - 1:32 AM
MOSCOW - The Russian military says 1,100 Syrian rebels and their family members have evacuated from a stronghold in the Damascus suburbs in the past 24 hours.
The town of Douma was one of the earliest hubs of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in 2011 and home to the Army of Islam, the largest rebel group in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of the Syrian capital.
The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that 24 buses in the past 24 hours have taken more than 1,100 rebels and their families to the rebel-held north of Syria. The evacuation began Monday.
The deal struck between the group and the Russian military marks the end of a weeks-long push by the Syrian government to consolidate its control of the suburbs.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018