3,700 evacuated from five districts near Syrian capital

By Mohamed Misto and Halit Suleiman

IDLIB, Syria (AA) - Some 3,700 people have been evacuated from five besieged districts of Syria in line with a March 30 agreement between the Bashar al-Assad regime and opposition groups.

The five besieged districts -- Madaya, Al-Zabadani, Al-Jabal al-Sharqi, Ain al-Fijah and Baqin -- are all located northwest of Damascus.

Negotiations between the regime and opposition reportedly remain ongoing with a view to carrying out additional evacuations in other parts of the country.

Turkey’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), meanwhile, has set up tents in the city of Idlib to accommodate civilian evacuees.

According to reports, some 20 areas across war-torn Syria remain under siege by regime forces.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, as many as 400,000 people are estimated to have been killed -- and millions more displaced -- as a result of the conflict, according to UN officials.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara