Monday, March 27, 2017

More Syrian rebels, families leave city of Homs under deal

Via Billy

Elsewhere in Syria, U.S.-backed opposition forces on Sunday captured a strategically important air base from Islamic State militants in the northern province of Raqqa in a major victory since the United States airlifted the forces behind enemy lines last week.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced they had captured the Tabqa air base, 45 kilometers (28 miles) west of Raqqa, the Islamic State group's de facto capital in Syria.
Another group of Syrian rebels with their families on Monday began leaving the last opposition-held neighborhood in the central city of Homs under a Russia-brokered deal with the Damascus government, state TV and the province's governor said.

The government has denied that the Homs deal - and other similar voluntary displacements in besieged areas in Syria over the past year - forces resident to leave and effectively surrender their territory.

But some opposition activists have criticized the agreement, saying it aims to displace 12,000 al-Waer residents, including 2,500 fighters. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has called the evacuees "internally displaced" people.

More @ AP

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