BEIRUT: Civilians and fighters began Friday morning evacuating four towns besieged by rebels and government forces under a deal brokered by opposition backer Qatar and regime ally Iran, a foreign media agency reported.
A foreign media correspondent in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo city, said at least 80 buses arrived in the region from government-held Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib province. A rebel source in Idlib told foreign media “the implementation of the deal started in the morning”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human rights confirmed the beginning of the evacuation.
At least 600,000 people are living under siege in Syria, according to the United Nations, with another four million people in so-called “hard-to-reach” areas.
More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.