BEIRUT, May 21 (AFP): Evacuations of Islamic State group fighters from their final stronghold in Syria's capital ended on Monday, bringing President Bashar al-Assad closer to a major milestone in the seven-year war.
With a blend of military pressure and negotiated withdrawals, Assad has flushed rebels out of key territory around Damascus in recent months, leaving a last pocket of IS fighters in the capital's south.
His troops and allied Palestinian militiamen have fought since April 19 to recapture the area covering the Palestinian camp of Yarmuk and the adjacent districts of Qadam, Tadamun and Hajar al-Aswad.
A ceasefire at the weekend ushered in a brief wave of evacuations that wrapped up at around midday on Monday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"The evacuations are over, after 32 buses took 1,600 people including IS fighters and their relatives out of southern Damascus on Sunday and Monday," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.
He said Syrian troops then entered IS-held parts of Yarmuk for combing operations. Abdel Rahman said IS sleeper cells may remain in Yarmuk, however, and further military operations could lie ahead before the area is declared secure.
Under the deal, the first buses of IS fighters and civilians left southern Damascus early Sunday morning and a second batch evacuated the following night.
The Britain-based monitor said they headed towards Syria's badiyah, a vast stretch of desert in the country's centre and east where IS still controls some territory.
Once Yarmuk and adjacent areas are under its control, Syria's government will have fully secured Damascus and its outskirts from any military threat for the first time since 2012. The regime has not confirmed any deal with IS.
But in a first official comment on evacuations, a military source said Monday that a brief ceasefire had allowed some civilians to be transferred out overnight.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
