News / Syria

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militants set for evacuation from Syria’s Yarmouk camp

Sunday, 07 May 2017 1:15 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 07 May 2017 2:32 PM ]

This file photo shows members of the Takfiri Jabhat Fateh al-Sham militant group at Yarmouk refugee camp in the southern suburbs of Damascus, Syria.

Foreign-sponsored and Takfiri Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, militant group has reportedly reached an agreement with the Syrian army for the evacuation of some of its wounded members from the Yarmouk refugee camp in the southern suburbs of Damascus to Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.

The agreement came following protracted negotiations between Syrian government commanders and high-profile militant figures over the past few days, pro-government and Arabic-language al-Masdar news agency reported.

There are reports that Jabhat Fateh al-Sham controls around 10 percent of the Yarmouk camp, but has a strong presence in neighboring Beit Saem, Yalda and Babila districts.

Some 20 percent of the former Palestinian refugee camp is already under the Damascus government’s control, while the rest is ruled by Daesh militants.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and Daesh have long been engaged in infighting at Yarmouk camp. Syrian army forces have largely refrained from intervening in the bloody clashes.

The camp was once home to 160,000 Syrians and Palestinians. However, it has turned into a ghost town as a result of the violent attacks by anti-government militants over the past five years of tumult in Syria.

Syrian civilians and pro-government fighters from the Shia villages of al-Foua and Kefraya wait at the militant-held transit point of Rashidin outside Aleppo on April 21, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Under a deal reached between the Syrian government and foreign-backed Takfiri militants in late March, the residents of the militant-besieged Shia villages of al-Foua and Kefraya will be taken to the outskirts of Aleppo City, while the militants and their families will be transferred from Zabadani and Madaya near Damascus to militant-held territory in Idlib.

The evacuation process kicked off on April 14, but it came to a halt a day later when a bomber blew up an explosives-laden car ripping through several buses carrying evacuees from Kefraya and Foua.

The terrorist attack killed at least 126 people, including 68 children, and injured dozens of others.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) is supervising the evacuations, which is described as the biggest population swap of its kind.

The agreement also includes a prisoner swap, a ceasefire covering areas south of Damascus, and aid deliveries.

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