- 22 minutes ago
- From the section Middle East
Image copyright AP
Dozens of Syrian rebel fighters are being evacuated from the village of Zabadani near the Lebanese border under a UN-brokered deal.
A convoy of buses and ambulances has reached Zabadani to take the fighters, and some civilians, to Beirut.The evacuation is part of a truce agreed in September covering Zabadani and two towns in the north which had been under siege from rebel forces.
About 300 families from those towns are also being given safe passage.
Also on Monday, at least 14 people had been killed and 90 wounded in two suicide bombings in the central city of Homs.
Reports said the blasts had hit the Zahraa neighbourhood of the city. It is predominantly inhabited by members of the Alawite sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
Under siege
Zabadani has been under siege from pro-government forces backed by the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.However, the two towns of Kefraya and Fuaa, in the northern province of Idlib, have been under siege from Sunni rebels.
The families from Kefraya and Fuaa are being taken to Turkey from where they will go to Lebanon.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said the Lebanese Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the UN were all involved in the operation.
A similar operation to evacuate rebels, including from the so-called Islamic State group, from the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk outside Damascus collapsed on Saturday shortly before it was due to start.
Image copyright Getty Images Localised ceasefires have occasionally been reached elsewhere in Syria and at one point were proposed as one of the few ways out of the bloodshed and stalemate.
However, they have failed to build any real momentum, correspondents say.
Background
- Are there 70,000 Syrian 'moderates' ready to back UK?
- Turkey's downing of Russian warplane - what we know
- Russia to Turkey: Don't try it again
- Was jet downing an overreaction?
- Iran's growing role in Syria's war
- Isis, Isil, IS or Daesh?
- Washington struggles for clear line on Syria
- What is Russia's endgame in Syria?
- Syria crisis: Where key countries stand
- Russia's intervention lifts Syria crisis to new level
- Russia joins Syrian war: Key points
- Syria: What can Russia's military do?
- How Putin blindsided the US
- West 'walking into abyss' on Syria
- Why Gulf states are not letting Syrians in
- Syrian ruins that influenced the West
- Syria: Mapping the conflict
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