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BEIRUT – An agreement was reached Tuesday for the evacuation of two pro-regime cities in Syria, allowing thousands of people to leave after three years of encirclement by extremist rebels.
A photo shows a convoy carrying civilians from the besieged Shia areas of Fuaa and Kafraya in northwestern Syria held by rebels arriving at al-Eis crossing on May 1, 2018
Fuaa and Kafraya are the last besieged cities in Syria, where medieval tactics were especially notorious by the government
Surrounded and bombarded by hostile factions, Shiite-majority cities became both a rallying cry for the government and a map to play in merciless rebellious hands.
A major deal was reached Tuesday between the ally of the Moscow government and the insurgent rebel Ankara, said a war watchdog.
"The agreement provides for the total evacuation of the inhabitants of the two cities, which are besieged by rebels and rebels.A Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, to the regime's territory in the neighboring province. Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is a jihadist alliance led by the former al Qaeda subsidiary in Syria.
Hundreds of people would be released from the regime's notorious detention centers in exchange, said Rami Abdel Rahman, chief of the Observatory
An HTS source also confirmed the agreement, declaring to AFP that more than 100 buses would evacuate 6 900. Fighters and civilians from Fuaa and Kafraya
The source said 1,500 people would be released from government-run prisons.
39; agreement has not been confirmed by any government involved, but the Syrian media He reported on Tuesday that he had preliminary information on an agreement to release "thousands" of people from Fuaa and Kafraya.
– "Have not forgotten" –
The cities were besieged in 2015, while rebels and jihadists were invading the province of Idlib
. ] This cut access to food and medicine for their residents outside of United aid deliveries.
The evacuation agreement reached on Tuesday is not the first for the two tiny cities.
In April 2017, thousands were transported to Fuaa and Kafraya. exchange for parallel evacuations from two cities near Damascus besieged by the government.
But an explosion targeting a convoy of Fuaa and Kafraya evacuees left 150 dead, mostly civilians and 72 children.
Traumatized Residents Left Beware now that this scenario will not happen again
"What are we going to do with our land and our property? Oh, my hometown," said a resident of Kafraya 42 year old who spoke under cover of anonymity.
"I pray that this is going well – we still have not forgotten those who died in the explosion" L & # AFP Tuesday
The Syrian conflict erupted in March 2011 with protests against President Bashar al-Assad who later turned it into a full-fledged war
early in the uprising, the Turkey has begun to support rebel groups.Iran has firmly supported its man in Damascus.
These three countries became the main power brokers in Syria, agreeing last year to create four zones of "de-escalation" to pave the way for a national cease-fire
Idlib f is part of an area of this type, which borders Turkey to the northwest, but which is almost completely surrounded by the territory of the regime, which raises fears that the government will finally attack it
– No d & rsquo; Idlib attack –
The Russia-Turkey agreement included the maintenance of the regime
The Britain-based controller said the Turkish and Russian forces would jointly patrol part of the M5 motorway running through Idlib.
The M5 connects Damascus to the second city Aleppo in the north
Nawar Oliver badyst of the Turkish-based Omran Center said the evacuation could pave the way for a big market on Idlib.
"Change inevitably comes to Idlib, but there are many problems that need to be solved, Oliver told AFP that Assad forces had already taken over two of the areas of" de-escalation " this year: the eastern Ghouta outside of Damascus and an area in the center of Homs
They sealed their control over these areas with a mixture of military pressure and negotiated surrender of rebel groups. [19659004] Using the same tactics, they are now close to seizing the third zone in southern Syria, which includes the main provinces of Dar aa and Kuneitra
Heavy air strikes struck Tuesday an area straddling the two governorates , killing 15 civilians in two cities, according to the Observatory.
Tens of thousands of civilians remain displaced in part of Quneitra But Israel, like Jordan in southern Syria, has kept the border closed displaced families who have fled the badault in recent weeks
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