Buses evacuated thousands of people from two rebel-besieged Shia villages in northwest Syria on Friday and rebels began to leave two towns near Damascus with their families, under a deal between the government and insurgents. The evacuation of nearby Zabadani, another town surrounded by government forces and their allies and included in the deal, appeared to have been delayed. State television reported that engineering teams and Syrian forces would soon enter the town. Damascus holds upper handAbout 5,000 people were being transported from the Shia villages, and more than 2,000 from Madaya. The United States escalated its involvement in the conflict last week, striking an air base in Washington's first deliberate direct attack on Syrian government forces.

Source: CBC News April 14, 2017 11:48 UTC