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| Syrian rebels begin Homs evacuation | Syrian rebels begin Homs evacuation |
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| Opposition fighters in the Old City of Homs have started withdrawing from their positions as part of a deal with Syrian forces that will leave all but one part of the "capital of the revolution" in regime hands. | Opposition fighters in the Old City of Homs have started withdrawing from their positions as part of a deal with Syrian forces that will leave all but one part of the "capital of the revolution" in regime hands. |
| The withdrawal comes five days after a ceasefire brokered between both sides that compels opposition fighters and their families to leave the area. Local officials said 120 people had so far boarded a fleet of buses sent to take them to another part of Homs. A total of 1,800 fighters are scheduled to leave, in a move that will all but mark the end of the insurrection in Syria's third city. | The withdrawal comes five days after a ceasefire brokered between both sides that compels opposition fighters and their families to leave the area. Local officials said 120 people had so far boarded a fleet of buses sent to take them to another part of Homs. A total of 1,800 fighters are scheduled to leave, in a move that will all but mark the end of the insurrection in Syria's third city. |
| The deal allows rebels to carry light weapons and, according to reports from the scene, one rocket-propelled grenade each. It also allows food to reach besieged residents. | The deal allows rebels to carry light weapons and, according to reports from the scene, one rocket-propelled grenade each. It also allows food to reach besieged residents. |
| The ceasefire is part of a pattern of such deals implemented between both sides in other parts of Syria in recent months. Fighters in Homs had been due to leave the Old City on Saturday, but delayed their exit seeking extra assurances that they would not face arrest at checkpoints. | |
| Another UN-brokered ceasefire earlier this year led to scores of rebels and male residents of fighting age being detained as soon as they reached regime positions. Western officials in Beirut say they have no information about the men's whereabouts. | Another UN-brokered ceasefire earlier this year led to scores of rebels and male residents of fighting age being detained as soon as they reached regime positions. Western officials in Beirut say they have no information about the men's whereabouts. |
| Only the Waer district of Homs remains in opposition hands, and a separate ceasefire there is soon likely to replicate the Homs exodus. With the fall of Homs imminent, the opposition to Bashar al-Assad poses an ever-diminishing threat in the western stretch of Syria from Tartous to Damascus, which is seen as the strategic heartland of the co | |
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| Regime forces are firmly in control of almost all of that strip after Hezbollah, supported by Syrian units, first took the Sunni town of Qusair near the Lebanese border last May. Since then, Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia called Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, homefront paramilitaries the National Defence Front and the Syrian military have won control of a mountain range north-west of Damascus, which gives them a clear path from the capital to Homs. | Regime forces are firmly in control of almost all of that strip after Hezbollah, supported by Syrian units, first took the Sunni town of Qusair near the Lebanese border last May. Since then, Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia called Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas, homefront paramilitaries the National Defence Front and the Syrian military have won control of a mountain range north-west of Damascus, which gives them a clear path from the capital to Homs. |
| The gains have been offset by opposition advances near the Jordanian border and north of Latakia, near the border with Turkey. However, more than three years into the civil war, myriad opposition groups have yet to pose a coherent threat to the ever-more organised Syrian regime and its backers. | The gains have been offset by opposition advances near the Jordanian border and north of Latakia, near the border with Turkey. However, more than three years into the civil war, myriad opposition groups have yet to pose a coherent threat to the ever-more organised Syrian regime and its backers. |
| "It is difficult to imagine how the opposition could advance from here," one Beirut-based senior western official said. "Stalemate is as best as they can hope for." | "It is difficult to imagine how the opposition could advance from here," one Beirut-based senior western official said. "Stalemate is as best as they can hope for." |
| Homs and other opposition strongholds have been battered into submission by months of sustained artillery and air assaults that have gradually reduced the number of neighbourhoods they control. Sieges have been imposed, starving residents who have remained behind and gradually ebbing the will to fight. More than 2,500 rebels have been killed in Homs, local activists say, and many thousands more wounded, or forced to flee. Much of the city's historic quarter has been levelled and many neighbourhoods lie in ruins. | Homs and other opposition strongholds have been battered into submission by months of sustained artillery and air assaults that have gradually reduced the number of neighbourhoods they control. Sieges have been imposed, starving residents who have remained behind and gradually ebbing the will to fight. More than 2,500 rebels have been killed in Homs, local activists say, and many thousands more wounded, or forced to flee. Much of the city's historic quarter has been levelled and many neighbourhoods lie in ruins. |
| "This is a day that we thought would never come," said one activist from a nearby district. "We had fought so hard and for so long, but no one came to help us. We were left to ourselves." | "This is a day that we thought would never come," said one activist from a nearby district. "We had fought so hard and for so long, but no one came to help us. We were left to ourselves." |