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Syria militants to leave last district in Homs: Governor

Tuesday, 01 December 2015 4:44 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 01 December 2015 4:45 PM ]

In this file photo, a man rides a bicycle through a devastated part of Homs, western Syria. (AP photo)

The foreign-backed militants in Syria’s western city of Homs will evacuate the last district they control under a deal with the government in Damascus.

Talal Barazi, the governor of Homs Province in central Syria, said on Tuesday that the militants would leave the district within two months. “A group of 200 to 300 armed men will leave in the first step, which will begin on Saturday (December 5).”

Heavy and medium weapons would also be turned over to officials in the first stage of the agreement that is due to last a week.

Some 2,000 militants are expected to leave Waer District gradually, while the government forces in return will end operations for the liberation of the district and lift a siege on the area.

After the completion of the evacuation, Syrian security forces will enter the area again, Barazi said. “We have agreed to keep the peace and end military operations to create the right circumstances to apply the deal.”

The deal over the evacuation was cut after Barazi and representatives of militant groups present in Waer, as well as civil society groups for the district met on Tuesday. The meeting was also attended by a UN delegation and representatives of UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

Waer, which was once home to 300,000 people, now only houses some 75,000. It was the last district of Homs that was still under the control of militants that withdrew from the Old City of Homs last year.

The Syrian conflict, which started in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people, according to the UN.

The UN says about 12.2 million people, including more than 5.6 million children, remain in need of humanitarian assistance. The foreign-sponsored militancy has also internally displaced 7.6 million people.

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