Hundreds of Syrian rebels and some of their families began evacuating the last opposition stronghold in the city of Homs on Wednesday as part of a ceasefire deal with government forces, according to state media, NBC News reported.
The agreement will allow President Bashar Assad's government to regain control of Homs — once dubbed the "capital of the revolution" and blockaded for nearly three years.
Talal Barazi, governor of Homs, told Syria's Sana news agency that some 720 people would be allowed to leave Waer district — 300 of them militants — during the first stage of the agreement brokered by the U.N. and the Red Cross.
During a second stage, some 2,000 militants who wished to lay down their weapons and go back to their "normal lives" would be resettled, Sana reported.
