Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

World

The Latest: Syrian army says rebels to exit last Ghouta town

Associated Press
Published | Updated

BEIRUT – The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):

6:15 p.m.

Syrian military media says rebels belonging to the powerful Army of Islam group have agreed to evacuate their stronghold in the suburbs of Damascus, giving the government complete control of the eastern Ghouta region which has been rebel-held since 2011.

The Central Military Media outlet, which is linked to the Syrian military, says the Army of Islam has agreed to leave the town of besieged town of Douma for Jarablus, a town shared between rebel and Turkish control in north Syria.

It says a local council for Douma will be formed with the approval of the central government.

Douma was one of the earliest hubs of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in 2011. The security services responded by putting the town and other suburbs around Damascus under siege, bombing hospitals and residential areas, and blocking food and medical relief. Douma is one of the last pockets of the opposition around the capital to hold out against the government.

It was not immediate possible to confirm the details of the deal and there was no comment from the Army of Islam.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported earlier in the day Russia's military police would be deployed inside Douma to take custodianship of the town.

___

4:10 p.m.

A rebel faction trapped by Syrian government forces outside the capital agreed to evacuate to northern Syria on Sunday as talks continued over lifting the siege against the town of Douma, where tens of thousands of civilians await relief.

Fighters from the Faylaq al-Rahman group left Douma on buses sent by the Syrian government to the rebel-held province of Idlib, SANA state news agency reported.

It was the first organized evacuation of fighters from Douma, which has held out against government forces through 7 years of war. The town was one of the hubs of the Arab Spring uprising against President Bashar Assad's government in 2011, which drew a brutal response from security forces, sparking the ongoing civil war.

Some 1,300 fighters, activists, and civilians signed up to leave the town, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.