A rebel group was still negotiating an end to the attacks by the Syrian government forces, while others had already given up on eastern Ghouta, an enclave relatively close to Damascus.
As the state news agency Sana reported, over 100 buses, packed with more than 6,700 fighters and residents left the region behind at night, reportedly the biggest evacuation up until this point. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the people have been taken to the northern Syrian region Idlib, which is still held by rebels.
In mid-February, the Syrian army, with the support of the Russian Air Force, launched a large-scale offensive on eastern Ghouta near the capital, Damascus. More than 90 percent of the area, which had been controlled by mostly Muslim rebels, has since been regained control of by the government forces.
On Friday, the group Fajlak al-Rahman and Russia had agreed to withdraw their fighters from the villages of Arbin, Samalka and Djobar in the south of the rebel enclave. On Saturday, the first convoy with almost a thousand fighters and civilians left the south of the province, followed by more than 5,400 people on Sunday.
Before them, the Muslim group Ahrar al-Sham had also announced the withdrawal of their fighters from eastern Ghouta, leading to more than 4,500 people, including 1,400 fighters, who left the city of Harasta on Friday.
“I’m always shocked as to what is happening in Syria,” said senior Adarsh Manosh, “I’m glad that evacuations and negotiations are still being done in times of such deep crisis, in which mostly innocents become the victims of violence.”
Negotiations are currently underway with the third group of insurgents in eastern Ghouta, Jaisal al-Islam, which controls, among other things, the city of Duma. So far, there is no agreement, said a spokesman of the Islamist group.
Overall, Syria’s ruler Bashar al-Assad is about to bring the entire region back under control. The reconquest of eastern Ghouta had a special strategic and symbolic significance for the Syrian head of state because of its proximity to its capital.
