More than 30,000 evacuated from Syria’s Homs

By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa

IDLIB, Syria (AA) – A ninth convoy of evacuees carrying people from the northern countryside of Homs province in western Syria arrived on Wednesday in Aleppo’s western countryside and Idlib province, according to Anadolu Agency correspondents on the ground.

The convoy of dozens of buses carried 6,800 civilians and armed groups members and their families from northern Homs as the number of people evacuated has exceeded 30,000 so far.

The evacuees will be sheltered in refugee camps, schools, and mosques in the two provinces.

On May 2, the Syrian regime and opposition groups agreed to a cease-fire in the Homs province’s northern countryside. Under the deal, Russian and regime forces will move into the region while opposition fighters surrender their heavy weapons.

The agreement also provides opposition fighters with a safe exit from other opposition-held parts of northern Syria.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a vicious conflict that began in 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.