Daily Times

BEIRUT: Nearly 1,500 people, mostly civilians, left the last opposition-held district of Homs on Saturday under a controversial Russian-supervised deal to bring Syria’s third city under full government control. The evacuation of Waer, a northwestern district of the city that has been under siege by the army for years, is the latest in a series of “reconciliation” deals struck by the government that the rebels say amount to starving them out. It comes ahead of a new round of UN-brokered talks that open in Geneva on Thursday in an attempt to end the conflict that has killed more than 320,000 people and driven millions from their homes. Thousands are expected to leave Waer in the coming weeks in the final phase of the evacuation agreement, which had stalled in recent months. An AFP correspondent saw a first wave of three green buses carrying civilians including children as well as dozens of fighters, their rifles slung over their shoulders. Throughout the day, women and children munching on pieces of bread lined up to load their luggage onto the buses, while men appeared to go through extra screening in separate lines. Stern-looking Russian forces looked on, wearing green fatigues with black bulletproof vests emblazoned with the word “Police” on the front.”Syrian police, Russian military police and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent will protect the convoys and accompany them from Homs onto Aleppo province,” Homs governor Talal Barazi told AFP.