DAMASCUS: Syrian rebels began evacuating a second part of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta on Saturday, state media said, in the latest such deal this week for the former opposition bastion. “Several buses carrying 500 fighters and their families have reached the Arbin crossing, in preparation for their departure from Ghouta,” state news agency Sana reported.
Once more buses gather at the Arbin crossing, the full convoy is expected to cross to opposition zones in northern Syria. The Syrian army on Saturday paused its bombardment of Douma, the last rebel bastion near Damascus, a war monitor said, as insurgents prepared to leave the rest of their former enclave of eastern Ghouta. Buses that will carry thousands of fighters, along with their families and other civilians, into exile in northwestern Syria began entering the southern part of Eastern Ghouta.
It follows the departure of thousands of others on Friday from the town of Harasta in a similar deal for insurgents to depart with light weapons in return for surrendering their territory.
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