DHAKA: Syrian rebels have begun evacuating from the last area they hold in the city of Homs under a ceasefire deal reached with the government.

A monitoring group has said, reports the BBC.

The deal means the entire city returns to government control.

Those leaving are due go to areas of Idlib province still in rebel hands.

Homs, in central Syria, was once dubbed the ‘capital of the revolution’ and saw some of the first protests against President Bashar al-Assad, in 2011.

The first bus has left the rebel-held area of Waer in Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Under the UN-backed ceasefire, food aid has reached the neighborhood for the first time in nearly a year.

In some areas, the government has allowed some groups to keep their weapons and a measure control over their own communities.

Anti-government protests erupted in Homs, Syria’s third city, in 2011.

Soon, thousands of Homs residents were taking part in demonstrations despite a brutal crackdown by security forces and pro-Assad militiamen that left dozens dead.

But in 2012 the Syrian military began a major operation to retake the city, bombarding rebel-held areas.

BDST: 1320 HRS, DEC 09, 2015
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