IS starts leaving last Damascus stronghold

A majority of those who left yesterday were relatives of jihadists and not armed. File Pic

A first batch of Islamic State group fighters left their final stronghold in Syria's capital early yesterday under a deal struck after weeks of fierce combat, a monitor said.

"At dawn, six buses of IS fighters and their relatives left the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp and adjacent district of Tadamun," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Abdel Rahman said the buses headed east for Syria's vast desert, where IS still controls some territory.

He had no details on how many people were aboard the vehicles, but said a majority of them were relatives of jihadists and not armed. The evacuations came a day after an apparent deal was reached to put an end to a ferocious month-long offensive to oust IS from its last positions in southern Damascus.

Pro-regime forces, specifically Palestinian militias, had been fighting since April 19 to recapture Yarmuk, Tadamun, and the nearby districts of Qadam and Hajar al-Aswad from IS. Syrian state media on Sunday denied evacuations were taking place in Hajar al-Aswad, but did not mention departures from Yarmuk or Tadamun.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever