TASS, March 24. The second stage of militant exit from the town of Harasta located in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta has been completed, Syrian state television reported. As many as 2,618 people, including 913 members of the Ahrar al-Sham militant group, left the town to travel by buses to the Idlib province, controlled by the armed opposition. On Thursday, a total of 413 militants and 1,580 civilians, including 385 women and 576 children, left Harasta for Idlib.
According to the capitulation agreement reached by the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the opposing sides and Ahrar al-Sham leaders, a total of 1,500 militants and their family members are supposed to move to northern Syria.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that before leaving Harasta, Ahrar al-Sham members had blown up a weapons depot, injuring four Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers, who were providing assistance to locals. Still, 18,000 to 20,000 people remain in the town, which was one of the militant strongholds.
Leaders of the Failak Ar-Rahman militant group, controling the Arbin, Ein Tarma and Zamalka suburbs of Damascus, as well as the Damascus municipality of Jobar, also announced readiness to withdraw their units from Eastern Ghouta. The state TV says around 7,000 people, including militants and their families, will leave these areas. According to the agreement, terrorists from the Jabhat al-Nusra group, who fought on the side of Failak Ar-Rahman, will also go to the Idlib province.