Some 4,000 rebels, families leave Eastern Ghouta in fresh evacuations
- 6 years ago
Now for a look at stories making headlines around the world and we start in Syria…
Thousands of Eastern Ghouta residents fled the area over the weekend in fresh evacuations that have further emptied the conflict-ridden region.
For more on this and other international news we turn to Ro Aram…
Aram…what's the latest?
Well Semin…. just under four thousand rebels and civilians left a ravaged pocket of Eastern Ghouta on Sunday.
They follow about a thousand residents who left the day before as part of an agreement reached between rebels and the Syrian army.
That deal, mediated by Syria's key ally Russia, is set to see some seven thousand residents leave three remaining pockets.
It will also reportedly see the release of people kidnapped by the rebels.
It was struck over the weekend after the Failaq al-Rahman group declared a unilateral cease-fire to negotiate its withdrawal from the region.
Pro-Syrian forces have now gained control of about 90 percent of eastern Ghouta after five weeks of intense bombardment.
The conflict is reported to be the deadliest in Syria's seven-year civil war, with more than one and a half thousand civilians being killed.
The UN also estimates that 400-thousand people were trapped inside the besieged area without access to food or medicine.
The Syrian government has used siege tactics followed by heavy bombardment to recapture swathes of territory lost to rebels.
Eastern Ghouta would be Damascus' second recaptured region after Aleppo in 2016.
Thousands of Eastern Ghouta residents fled the area over the weekend in fresh evacuations that have further emptied the conflict-ridden region.
For more on this and other international news we turn to Ro Aram…
Aram…what's the latest?
Well Semin…. just under four thousand rebels and civilians left a ravaged pocket of Eastern Ghouta on Sunday.
They follow about a thousand residents who left the day before as part of an agreement reached between rebels and the Syrian army.
That deal, mediated by Syria's key ally Russia, is set to see some seven thousand residents leave three remaining pockets.
It will also reportedly see the release of people kidnapped by the rebels.
It was struck over the weekend after the Failaq al-Rahman group declared a unilateral cease-fire to negotiate its withdrawal from the region.
Pro-Syrian forces have now gained control of about 90 percent of eastern Ghouta after five weeks of intense bombardment.
The conflict is reported to be the deadliest in Syria's seven-year civil war, with more than one and a half thousand civilians being killed.
The UN also estimates that 400-thousand people were trapped inside the besieged area without access to food or medicine.
The Syrian government has used siege tactics followed by heavy bombardment to recapture swathes of territory lost to rebels.
Eastern Ghouta would be Damascus' second recaptured region after Aleppo in 2016.