BEIRUT // The Syrian government on Friday began evacuating civilians trapped in rebel-held parts of the city under a rare deal struck between the government and the opposition that also includes a three-day ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid convoys into the besieged areas.
The government on Friday also confirmed it would take part in a new round of peace talks in Geneva on Monday. Damascus insisted the evacuation was not related to the talks, claiming that previous attempts at a truce in Homs were obstructed by opposition fighters.
The first two buses to arrive at the frontline separating government and opposition-held territory in Homs on Friday carried at least 35 women, children and elderly men, accompanied by Syrian Red Crescent paramedics. Syrian TV said 200 people were expected to leave during the day, and dozens of others over the next three days.
Activists estimate there are about 2,500 people in the city’s old quarters. They have endured a crushing blockade and severe food shortages for more than a year. Large areas of Syria’s third city, dubbed “the capital of the revolution” against President Bashar Al Assad, have been reduced to rubble by fighting between rebels and government forces.
The evacuation of civilians and aid convoys to Homs was among the humanitarian issues discussed at the first round of UN-hosted talks between the government and opposition that adjourned on January 31 with no signs of progress.
The negotiations aim to broker a political solution to Syria’s civil war, which has claimed more than has killed more than 130,000 lives over nearly three years, forced more than 2.3 million to seek refuge abroad, and sent sectarian tensions soaring across the region.
The Syrian government had accused the opposition of trying to capitalise on human suffering in Homs to try and score points in Geneva. The opposition Syrian National Coalition (SNC) insists the peace talks must focus on a transition of power from Mr Al Assad, but the government insists his rule is not up for discussion.
The Russian foreign ministry said the Homs evacuation was the result of “difficult discussions over many days” that also led to a three-day ceasefire.
The SNC chief Ahmad Jarba had met foreign minister Sergei Lavrov of Russia, a key Damascus ally, in Moscow on Tuesday.
The governor of Homs, Talal Barrazi, told Syrian state TV that the evacuation of civilians excluded men between the ages of 15 and 55, who were likely to be fighters.
Mr Barrazi said the first batch of about 200 civilians would leave the rebel-held Jouret El Shayah neighborhood of the city. Those who leave can go wherever they want, he said, adding that “the governorate has prepared a shelter that can take up to 400 people”.
The TV station showed several elderly men, some wrapped in blue blankets, as they came out, assisted by paramedics. One man who appeared ill was carried into an ambulance.
The Syrian government announced on Thursday that it reached an agreement with the United Nations to let hundreds of trapped civilians leave besieged parts of Homs and permit UN humanitarian relief convoys to enter.
Earlier on Friday, about half a dozen UN SUVs, nine buses and two Red Crescent ambulances drove from government-held areas toward a neighbourhood under rebel control.
In New York, the UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said UN and humanitarian organisations had food, medical aid and other basic supplies on the outskirts of Homs ready for immediate delivery as soon as “the green light” was given for safe passage.
“The atmosphere is positive” Mr Barrazi said, adding that the first batch of food supplies will be sent to rebel-held areas on Saturday.
In the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, government forces launched a counter-offensive against rebels who had stormed parts of the city’s central prison earlier in the week and freed hundreds of prisoners. Syrian troops regained much of the area on Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The group said two days of fighting left 20 government troops and 17 rebels dead.
Rebels have been besieging the Aleppo prison, estimated to have 4,000 inmates, for almost a year. They have rammed suicide car bombs into the front gates twice, lobbed shells into the compound and battled frequently with the hundreds of guards and troops holed up inside.
* Associated Press with additional reporting by Agence France-Presse