Cease-fire as Homs evacuation begins
Print Edition
The Syrian government began evacuating civilians trapped in besieged, rebel-held parts of a battleground city yesterday under a deal struck with the United Nations and a three-day cease-fire announced by Russia to allow humanitarian aid convoys to enter.
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.
Also yesterday, the Syrian government announced it will 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.
Homs governor Talal Barrazi told Syrian state TV that the evacuation excludes men between the age of 15 and 55, who were likely to be fighters.
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