Syrian opposition evacuate Damascus town under deal

Around 620 opposition fighters and their families on Wednesday began evacuating Moadamiyet al-Sham, a besieged town southwest of the Syrian capital, under a deal with the regime, a local official said.

Moadamiyet al-Sham has been under a devastating regime siege since early 2013 as a result of a civil war in Syria. More than 400,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, according to an estimate by the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura.

"The buses of rebels have begun moving," said Hassan Ghandour, a member of the local committee overseeing the deal in Moadamiyat al-Sham.

Ghandour said the buses took opposition fighters and their family members to the opposition-held Idlib province, in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian regime has struck such local deals with opposition fighters before.

Another member of the local reconciliation committee who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity said the total number of evacuees stood at 2,100.

Any remaining opposition fighters who hand themselves over to the Syrian regime will "have their status regularised," the member said.