Syria declares old Homs city rebel-free

The Governor of Syria's central province of Homs Talal Barazi on Friday declared the old city of Homs safe and empty of arms and armed rebels, following the evacuation of the last batch of rebels there, the official SANA News Agency. "The old city of Homs has become secure and completely empty of weapons and armed militiamen, thanks to the sacrifices and heroism of the Syrian armed forces," Barazi was cited by SANA as saying. Following the military inspections and dismantling of roadside bombs, the displaced families of the old city of Homs have started returning to their neighborhoods and homes to inspect their properties, said the governor. He said bomb squads are completing their inspection operation in the neighborhood of Jouret al-Shayah and al-Qusour, adding that the people of those two neighborhoods would be allowed in following the completion of the inspection. According to SANA, the governor gave his directives for the formation of local committees to be tasked with regulating the entry and exit to the secured areas in old Homs and to assess the damages with the competent authorities. The last batch of rebels evacuated the old city at 4 p.m. local time Friday, according to sources. Meanwhile, a Xinhua photographer in Homs said that the areas of the old Homs are largely devastated as destruction scenes are everywhere. He said the residents, who had fled those areas, started returning on Friday to check their destroyed properties as the vast majority of the old city have been destroyed. The rebels' evacuation from the besieged old city of Homs is a part of a deal concluded recently between the Syrian government troops and the armed militant groups under the mediation of a Syria-based UN official. The deal went into effect earlier last week with a ceasefire that was followed on Wednesday with the departure of around 968 rebels out of some 2,183 others, including civilians, who are apparently the families of the rebels. Under the deal, thousands of rebels holed up in that besieged part of Homs were set to abandon their positions in the Jouret al- Shaiyah, Qarabis, Qusur, Hamidiyeh and Wadi al-Sayeh neighborhoods in old Homs toward rebel-held areas in the northern countryside of Homs, namely to the al-Dar al-Kabira. In exchange, the rebels agreed to break their siege on the pro- government towns of Nubul and Zahra in the northern province of Aleppo to allow in relief aid convoys, and to release government- loyal people and soldiers they had kidnapped before. On Friday, the state-run TV said that aid convoys entered Nubul and Zahra. The old city of Homs, which constitutes of many ancient neighborhoods, has been besieged by the government troops since two years ago. The Syrian army has recently unleashed an offensive to recapture the few remaining rebel-held areas in old Homs. However, the deal has secured the government control over the area and evacuation of the rebels without bloodshed. After the full evacuation, the entire city of Homs would be under government control except the al-Waer neighborhood, whose rebels have rejected to join the deal, and three towns in the northern countryside of Homs, namely al-Dar al-Kabira, Talbiseh, and al-Rastan.