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WORLD NEWS Monday 26 March 2018

Syrian rebels exit second pocket of eastern Ghouta

on Thursday. Some 7,000 and the third and last pock- afflictions commensurate
people left the town of Ha- et in the eastern Ghouta with the siege of eastern
rasta, bound for Idlib. enclave. A delegation rep- Ghouta. For four weeks,
Fighters loyal to the al-Qai- resenting the town was in residents had to hide in
da-linked Levant Liberation talks with Russia to reach a overcrowded basements
Committee, known by its settlement that would have as the government shelled
Arabic acronym HTS, also Russian forces deployed in- and bombed the region
began evacuating eastern side. Charities supporting without pause. The Union
Ghouta on Sunday, ac- the medical sector in Syr- of Medical Care and Relief
cording to the Observatory. ian opposition areas say Organizations said children
Rebels with the powerful evacuees were arriving to and adults were arriving
Islam Army faction still con- Hama, on the road to Idlib, with intestinal infections,
trolled Douma, the largest bearing the marks of trau- hepatitis, skin diseases and
town in eastern Ghouta, ma, malnutrition, and other trauma injuries.q
This photo shows civilians carrying their belongings leaving
towns and villages, in the eastern Ghouta region near Damas-
cus, Syria, Sunday, March. 25, 2018. Hundreds of Syrian rebels
and civilians were bused out of a second pocket of the be-
sieged eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus on Sunday after
rebels agreed to leave several towns and villages after years of
siege and weeks of heavy bombardment.
(SANA via AP)

By PHILIP ISSA children peered out of the
BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds open windows.
of Syrian rebels and civil- Many are unsure if they will
ians were bused out of a ever be able to return.
second pocket of the be- "I'm going to visit the tomb
sieged eastern Ghouta of my father (for the) last
suburbs of Damascus on time," tweeted Muham-
Sunday after rebels agreed mad Najem, a 15 year-old
to leave several towns and boy who said he was going
villages after years of siege to board the buses to Idlib,
and weeks of heavy bom- a rebel-stronghold in north-
bardment. west Syria.
Close to 900 people were "We are going on an un-
evacuated from the south- known journey to the refu-
ernmost of three eastern gee camps in Idlib. We
Ghouta pockets on Sun- don't know what is our fate
day, according to state-af- there," said Najem in a sep-
filiated al-Ikhbariya TV, fol- arate video tweet.
lowing some 1,000 fighters, The evacuation is mod-
family members, and other eled on others in which
civilians who departed late rebels have surrendered
Saturday, as reported by swathes of territory around
the Syrian Observatory for the capital and other ma-
Human Rights. jor cities after years of siege
They left in a fleet of buses, and bombardment at the
including the lime-green hands of President Bashar
municipal buses that have Assad's forces. They have
come to symbolize defeat been helpless against the
for the Syrian opposition government's overwhelm-
and the rearrangement of ing artillery and air power,
Syria's population as the boosted with support from
government takes back Iran's Revolutionary Guard
control of cities around the and Russia's air force.
country. Rebels belonging to the
Fighters dressed in fatigues Ahrar al-Sham and Faylaq
slumped in their seats and al-Rahman factions began
hid their faces from road- evacuating the central
side news cameras, while pocket of eastern Ghouta