MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Syrian government troops have taken control of 21 settlements in the country’s southern province of Daraa and Quneitra, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Sunday.
According to SANA, some militants agreed to reconcile with the Syrian government, while others preferred to move to the southwestern province of Idlib, still seized by militant units, taking their families with them. As many as 2,800 people left for Idlib by buses on Saturday.
SANA added that talks were underway on the withdrawal of Jabha al-Nusra (a terror group outlawed in Russia) members from the town of Nawa located west of the Daraa city. An operation to transport them to Idlib may start in the coming hours.
According to the Al-Watan newspaper, militants still control ten settlements in the Quneitra province located along the border of a demilitarized zone near the disengagement line between the Syrian and Israeli forces on the Golan Heights. In case talks prove successful, members of illegal armed groups will start to surrender military hardware to the Syrian army on Sunday.
On Friday, Syrian forces seized eight settlements in the area, reaching the demilitarized zone with Israel.