Beirut: A Syrian official says a second round of rebel evacuations from the central city of Homs is under way.
Homs governor Talal Barazi says 120 men and their families are expected to depart Al Waer neighbourhood by bus as part of an arrangement to restore government authority over the rebellious district.
The government is permitting food and medical assistance to enter the besieged neighbourhood in exchange for the evacuations.
An earlier group of more than 100 fighters and their families were evacuated from the neighbourhood last week.
A Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy of 36 trucks delivered assistance for 4,000 families in the district on Saturday.
Al Waer is the last neighbourhood with a significant rebel presence in Homs, which was a focal point of the 2011 protests against President Bashar Al Assad.
Some 75,000 people still live in Al Waer, down from 300,000 before the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011. Pro-government forces have besieged the neighbourhood since 2013.
The United Nations oversaw the original deal but was not present during Thursday’s operation when the evacuations began.
The evacuees were headed to Dar Al Kubra, which is under rebel control.
An AFP team at the entrance to the neighbourhood saw dozens of gunmen leaving early Thursday, accompanied by family members, mostly women and children.
Some of the gunmen were carrying light weapons as permitted by the deal, with a number covering their faces and wearing military fatigues.
They boarded several green buses, carrying suitcases and other belongings under the supervision of Syrian soldiers and some Russian troops.
Earlier this month, the UN’s envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, criticised a “strategy” of evacuations from besieged rebel-held communities under deals with the government.
His comments followed a deal between the government and rebels in Daraya town outside Damascus, emptied of residents and opposition fighters after a four-year army siege.
De Mistura warned there were “indications that after Daraya we may have other Darayas”.
