Regime evacuates civilians from besieged Homs under UN deal

The Syrian government has begun evacuating civilians trapped in rebel-held parts of the battleground city of Homs under a rare deal between the government and the opposition that also included a three-day ceasefire allowing humanitarian aid convoys to the besieged areas.

The first two buses carrying at least 35 women, children and elderly men accompanied by Syrian Red Crescent paramedics in red uniforms arrived at the frontline separating government and opposition-held territory in Homs. Syrian TV said 200 people were expected to leave during the day, and dozens of others over the next three days.

According to estimates by activists, there are about 2,500 people in the city’s old quarters. They have endured a crushing blockade and severe food shortages for more than a year.

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Also yesterday, the Syrian government announced it would take part in a second round of peace talks in Geneva on Monday. The first face-to-face UN-hosted talks adjourned on January 31 with no signs of progress, including on humanitarian issues such as aid convoys to Homs.

The negotiations aim to broker a political solution to Syria’s civil war. The nearly three-year conflict has killed more than 130,000 people, forced more than 2.3 million to seek refuge abroad, and sent sectarian tensions soaring across the region.

The Syrian government had accused the opposition of trying to capitalise on human suffering in Homs to try and score points in Geneva. Damascus insisted the evacuation is not related to the talks, claiming that previous attempts at a truce were obstructed by opposition fighters.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the evacuation was the result of “difficult discussions over many days” that also led to a three-day ceasefire beginning on Thursday.

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Homs governor Talal Barrazi said the evacuation excluded men between the age of 15 and 55, who were likely to be fighters.

Mr Barrazi said the first batch of about 200 civilians will leave the rebel-held Homs district of Jouret el-Shayah.

He said those who left could go wherever they wanted adding that “the governorate has prepared a shelter that can take up to 400 people”.

The TV station showed several elderly men, some wrapped in blue blankets, as they came out, assisted by Syrian Red Crescent paramedics in red uniforms. One man who appeared ill was carried into an ambulance.

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President Bashar Assad’s government announced earlier that it reached an agreement with the United Nations to let hundreds 
of trapped civilians leave besieged parts of Homs and permit UN humanitarian relief convoys to enter.

Earlier yesterday, about half a dozen UN vehicles, nine buses and two Red Crescent ambulances drove from government-held areas toward an area under rebel control.

In New York, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said the UN and humanitarian organisations had
food, medical aid and other basic supplies on the outskirts of Homs ready for immediate delivery as soon as “the green light” was given for safe passage.

“The atmosphere is positive” Mr Barrazi said, adding that the first batch of food supplies would be sent to rebel-held areas today.

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In the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, government forces launched a counteroffensive against rebels who had stormed parts of the city’s central prison earlier in the week and freed hundreds of prisoners. Syrian troops regained much of the area yesterday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The group said two days of fighting left 20 government troops and 17 rebels dead.

Rebels have been besieging the Aleppo prison, estimated to have 4,000 inmates, for almost a year.