Syrian rebels and families begin to leave besieged Eastern Ghouta after deal

Josie Ensor
Updated
Syrian children speak to a man from out the window of a vehicle during a civilian evacuation by the Syrian Red Crescent in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave - AFP
Syrian children speak to a man from out the window of a vehicle during a civilian evacuation by the Syrian Red Crescent in the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave - AFP

Syrian rebel fighters and their families began leaving a key Eastern Ghouta town on Thursday, after agreeing with the government to give up their fight for the opposition stronghold.

Around 1,600 fighters from the Ahrar al-Sham Islamist group and some 6,000 of their relatives were expected to have been evacuated by the end of the day, in the first such deal between the two sides of the conflict.

Buses transported the men, women and children out of the enclave through government territory and on to opposition-held Idlib province in the northwest of the country.

Idilb, close to the Turkish border, is the rebels’ largest remaining redoubt and where thousands of rebels have been sent by the regime under so-called reconciliation deals.

A child runs along a street in front of clouds of smoke billowing following a reported air strike on Douma, the main town of Syria's rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta - Credit: AFP
A child runs along a street in front of clouds of smoke billowing following a reported air strike on Douma, the main town of Syria's rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta Credit: AFP

A spokesman for Ahrar al-Sham, which had controlled Harasta, told the Telegraph that the fighters were allowed to leave with their weapons and the roughly 20,000 civilians who wished to remain in the city were given guarantees of safety from the regime and Russia.

He said rebels and the government also exchanged 18 prisoners ahead of the evacuation.

The deal, brokered by government allies Russia and Lebanese militia Hizbollah, was agreed after pressure from civilians, who have spent weeks being bombarded by air strikes and chemical attacks.

Critics say it is a formula for displacement that legitimises the government's brutal siege tactics that have deprived hundreds of thousands of civilians of food and medicines and subjected them to a half-decade of violence.

Smoke rises from buildings following air strikes on Zamalka, one of the few remaining rebel-held pockets in Eastern Ghouta - Credit: AFP
Smoke rises from buildings following air strikes on Zamalka, one of the few remaining rebel-held pockets in Eastern Ghouta Credit: AFP

A blistering Russia-backed regime offensive on Eastern Ghouta since February 18 has retaken 80 percent of the last opposition bastion outside the capital.

The government's assault has sparked a tide of displacement in the Damascus suburbs as civilians try to escape the violence. Some have moved deeper into the rebel-held enclave, while some 50,000 others have crossed the front-lines, to government authorities.

The Ahrar al-Sham spokesman said some 30,000 of those who have fled Ghouta in recent weeks were being held in a camps around Damascus. “They’re almost like prisons because no one can move freely inside,” he said. “You also can’t enter or leave the camps.”

There were also reports of some men of fighting age, particularly defectors from the Syrian army who joined the opposition, being conscripted to fight for the government.

The deal will put pressure on rebel groups in the two other besieged areas of Eastern Ghouta to follow suit.

The Jaish al-Islam rebel group that holds Douma, the biggest and most populated town still held by the rebels, has said it is determined to fight on.