BREAKING NEWS

Report: Last rebels quit south Damascus enclave

By REUTERS

MAY 10, 2018 20:01

BEIRUT - Syrian insurgents left an enclave in south Damascus on Thursday, state media said, the last in a string of rebel towns that have surrendered around the capital in recent weeks.

A pocket near Homs city remains the only besieged enclave in rebel hands across the country, though insurgent factions still hold tracts of the northwest and southwest along Syria's international borders.

Fierce offensives and evacuation deals have helped President Bashar Assad's military wrestle back control of much of Syria, with support from Russia and Iran.

State television said 15 buses shuttled fighters out of Beit Sahm, Babila, and Yalda south of the capital.

"The towns have become empty of terrorist presence," a state TV correspondent said from the outskirts of Beit Sahm.

Hundreds of people have left since last week. Under the deal, the buses take fighters and civilians who refuse the return of state rule to insurgent territory in the north near the Turkish border.

Government forces pounded jihadists in a small adjacent zone also south of Damascus, state news agency SANA said. Islamic State militants have been holed up there after weeks of intense bombardment on the Hajar Aswad district and Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp.

Trump: Kamala will start WW3, get millions of Muslims killed

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

11/05/2024 01:10 PM

Putin tells Western diplomats Russia is committed to cooperation

By REUTERS

11/05/2024 01:08 PM

Germany says Iran is responsible for death of Sharmahd

By REUTERS

11/05/2024 12:33 PM

Iranian female student who stripped in public is 'troubled'

By REUTERS

11/05/2024 12:31 PM