Second stage of Eastern Ghouta evacuation begins

The first batch of the Failaq al-Rahman rebels and their families evacuated Syria’s Eastern Ghouta area on Saturday evening, media reports said. Up to 17 buses transporting 981 rebels and their families evacuated areas in Eastern Ghouta through a crossing point on the outskirts of the town of Arbeen in Eastern Ghouta, Xinhua reported. The convoy headed toward rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib, under a recently-reached deal with the Syrian government under the Russian mediation. Ahead of the rebels’ evacuation, a total of eight people kidpped by the rebels in Eastern Ghouta were released, as part of the deal that was reached before. (IANS)