Russia says evacuation from Syria's eastern Ghouta to end within days

The Russian military says on Wednesday it expects an opposition evacuation from the suburbs of the Syrian capital to be completed in the coming days.

The Russian Defense Ministry and Syrian rebel fighters struck a deal on Sunday for the Jaish al Islam, the biggest fighting group in the Damascus suburbs of eastern Ghouta, to leave the area for the opposition-controlled north.

Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy of the Russian General Staff told a conference on Wednesday that the rebel fighters were still leaving the town of Douma, but he expected the evacuation to wrap up in the coming days.

The defence ministry said earlier on Wednesday that more than 3,000 rebels and their family members have evacuated Douma since Sunday.

Evacuees lead to Al Bab

Later on Tuesday, another convoy carrying civilians and opposition fighters from the enclave had also arrived in the Al Bab district of Aleppo. 

According to Anadolu Agency correspondents based in the area, the evacuees are ongoing from the towns of Arbin, Zamalka, Ain Tarma and lastly in Douma. 

Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched in September 2016, liberated Al Bab from Daesh terrorists.

The operation, which concluded in March 2017, was meant to clear terrorists from areas of Syria bordering Turkey.

Tuesday’s convoy was made of 22 buses carrying over 1,440 passengers, including injured people, patients, women and children. 

At least 50,000 people have been evacuated from eastern Ghouta since the evacuation process began on March 22. 

On Monday, a convoy, carrying over 1,000 passengers, including injured people, patients, women and children, had arrived in the western suburbs of Aleppo and Idlib provinces. 

The evacuations are part of a Russian-brokered agreement between the Assad regime and armed opposition groups.

Crippling regime siege

On February 24, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2401, which called for a ceasefire in Syria – especially in eastern Ghouta – to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. 

Despite the resolution, however, the regime and its allies early in March launched a major ground offensive – backed by Russian air power – aimed at capturing opposition-held parts of the district. 

Since February 19, more than 1,600 people have been killed in attacks by the regime and its allies in eastern Ghouta, according to local civil-defence sources. 

Home to some 400,000 residents, the district has remained under a crippling regime siege for the last five years which has prevented the delivery of badly needed humanitarian supplies. 

Syria has been locked in a devastating conflict since early 2011 when the regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity. 

According to UN officials, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict to date.