A first group of jihadists is to be evacuated from the Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, the target of a devastating regime assault, a powerful Islamist rebel group announced Friday. Fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group made up mostly of Al-Qaeda’s ex-affiliate Al-Nusra Front, are to be evacuated to the northern province of Idlib, Jaish al-Islam rebel group said in a statement. Despite two weeks of air strikes and artillery bombardment that have killed almost 950 civilians, the main rebel groups have so far rejected Russian-brokered offers to evacuate civilians or any of their own fighters. Eastern Ghouta, which lies just east of Damascus, is home to some 400,000 civilians and is controlled by myriad armed groups. The main forces are Islamist groups — Jaish al-Islam, Faylaq al-Rahman and Ahrar al-Sham.

Source: Manila Bulletin March 10, 2018 00:11 UTC