DAMASCUS, July 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 88 buses entered the towns of Kafraya and Foa to evacuate some 3,000 people from both predominantly Shiite towns besieged by the rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib, according to state media.
The entry of the buses to the towns, which have been besieged by the rebels three years ago, came a day after a deal was reached between the government and the rebels in Idlib to allow an estimated number of 3,000 people in the town to leave.
The state TV said the town of Ishtabrak in the northern countryside of Idlib is also included as the rebels are set to release people they kidnapped from those towns.
Some sources said that the remaining people in the two Shiite towns will evacuate towards Aleppo city in northern Syria, in exchange, the government will release a number of prisoners linked with the rebels.
Opposition activists said the deal will see the evacuation of the Shiite militants and their families from the two towns towards government-controlled parts in northern Syria, adding that the deal was concluded between the rebels and Iran.
Activists said that around 1,500 civilians and rebels will be set free from a prison in Damascus.
With the deal has already started, some people in Kafraya and Foa expressed skepticism as they lost their relatives in the previous evacuation.
In April, 2017, 112 people from both towns were killed while reaching a rebel-held area in Aleppo, when rebels detonated a car bomb near the buses transporting them to the government-controlled parts in Aleppo city.
Now, around 3,000 living in both towns are expected to leave, which will make both towns completely empty to become the main stronghold for Syria's rebels. Enditem
