Homs Back In Control Of Syrian Government , VIVA ASSAD !

Syrian so-called Moderates  have begun evacuating the last district they hold in the city of Homs under a ceasefire deal reached with the government, monitoring groups and activists said.  The deal means the entire city returns to government control. VIVA ASSAD !  Those leaving are due to go to areas of Idlib province still in rebel ISIS hands.

Homs, in central Syria, was once dubbed the “capital of the revolution” and saw some of the first protests in 2011. Buses arrived on Wednesday to transport fighters and their families out of the Homs suburb of al-Wair, activist network the Local Co-ordination Committees said.

About 800 people, including Moderate ISIS fighters and civilians, are due to depart throughout Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Fighters linked to al-Qaeda are among those due to leave as well.

Under the UN-backed deal, food aid has reached the suburb for the first time in nearly a year.

The Syrian Red Crescent tweeted (in Arabic) that its teams were operating in the area but few details were available on the conditions on the ground.

Homs: Returns To Syrian Government Control, VIVA ASSAD !

Image copyright Reuters

Ahead of the deal, the Syrian authorities said they released 35 moderate opposition fighters detained in Homs.

“We wish for the best,” said one resident. “What do we want but safety?”

An estimated 75,000 people still live in al-Wair, down from about 300,000 before the start of the Syrian crisis.

Some Syrian activists argue the deal is effectively a surrender forced by punishing blockades.

But others have defended the truce struck in al-Wair on the grounds that some groups will be allowed to have control over their own communities.

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