Hundreds of civilians and Syrian rebels began evacuating the last opposition-held district in the central city of Homs early Wednesday under a deal with the regime, the provincial governor said.
The agreement will see around 2,000 rebels and their families leave the besieged neighbourhood of Waer in Homs, once dubbed "the capital of the revolution", by the end of January.
"The first set of people have left the district of Waer and the second group will leave soon," governor Talal Barazi told journalists on the edges of the rebel-held area.
Barazi said about 700 people -- including 400 women and children and 300 fighters -- would be evacuated from the district on Wednesday, after a deal reached earlier this month between rebel forces and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
"We are implementing the first stage, which will be complete at the end of next week," he added.
Just outside the district, an AFP journalist saw dozens of women and children quietly boarding around 10 large white buses, as white SUVs belonging to the United Nations waited nearby.
More than 100 opposition fighters -- some of them carrying light weapons -- boarded five green buses further down the street.
Around 15 wounded fighters arrived in ambulances and were transferred onto the buses, an AFP journalist said.
Ten ambulances and ten UN vehicles as well as some regime vehicles were parked alongside the convoy.
Journalists were not permitted to approach the civilians or the rebels.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Waer posted footage online of fighters getting on green buses.
"I am leaving here to fight elsewhere," a young bearded man carrying a machine gun said.
Roughly 75,000 people now live in Waer, down from 300,000 before the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
Rebels in Homs hail from about 45 rebel and Islamist groups, as well as Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front and members of the Islamic State group.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said residents of Waer began gathering at "4:00 am (0200 GMT) in the streets, waiting to leave the city."
Buses will head from Homs city to the Qalaat al-Madiq area of central Hama province, then to the northwestern province of Idlib.
Idlib province is held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance, which includes Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, and which would send some of its forces to escort the buses, according to Abdel Rahman.
Earlier this month, Barazi said all rebels would leave Waer in return for the regime lifting its siege of the district and ending military operations there.
Government police -- but not troops -- will then reenter the area.
Hundreds of civilians and Syrian rebels began evacuating the last opposition-held district in the central city of Homs early Wednesday under a deal with the regime, the provincial governor said.
The agreement will see around 2,000 rebels and their families leave the besieged neighbourhood of Waer in Homs, once dubbed “the capital of the revolution”, by the end of January.
“The first set of people have left the district of Waer and the second group will leave soon,” governor Talal Barazi told journalists on the edges of the rebel-held area.
Barazi said about 700 people — including 400 women and children and 300 fighters — would be evacuated from the district on Wednesday, after a deal reached earlier this month between rebel forces and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“We are implementing the first stage, which will be complete at the end of next week,” he added.
Just outside the district, an AFP journalist saw dozens of women and children quietly boarding around 10 large white buses, as white SUVs belonging to the United Nations waited nearby.
More than 100 opposition fighters — some of them carrying light weapons — boarded five green buses further down the street.
Around 15 wounded fighters arrived in ambulances and were transferred onto the buses, an AFP journalist said.
Ten ambulances and ten UN vehicles as well as some regime vehicles were parked alongside the convoy.
Journalists were not permitted to approach the civilians or the rebels.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Waer posted footage online of fighters getting on green buses.
“I am leaving here to fight elsewhere,” a young bearded man carrying a machine gun said.
Roughly 75,000 people now live in Waer, down from 300,000 before the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
Rebels in Homs hail from about 45 rebel and Islamist groups, as well as Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front and members of the Islamic State group.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said residents of Waer began gathering at “4:00 am (0200 GMT) in the streets, waiting to leave the city.”
Buses will head from Homs city to the Qalaat al-Madiq area of central Hama province, then to the northwestern province of Idlib.
Idlib province is held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance, which includes Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, and which would send some of its forces to escort the buses, according to Abdel Rahman.
Earlier this month, Barazi said all rebels would leave Waer in return for the regime lifting its siege of the district and ending military operations there.
Government police — but not troops — will then reenter the area.
