Deal for Ghouta rebels to evacuate reportedly reached

A final deal appears to have been reached for fighters and civilians to leave the last opposition-held area of Eastern Ghouta, paving the way for Syria’s regime to retake all of the one-time rebel enclave near Damascus.

The agreement brokered by government ally Russia would see fighters with the Jaish al-Islam rebel faction leave Ghouta’s main town of Douma for opposition territory in northern Syria, state media and a monitoring group say.

There was no immediate confirmation from the rebels, but state news agency SANA reports a deal has been reached for the group’s fighters to head to rebel-controlled town of Jarabulus in the northern province of Aleppo.

The retaking of Eastern Ghouta would mark a major milestone in President Bashar al-Assad’s efforts to regain control of territory seized by rebel factions during Syria’s seven-year civil war.

— AFP