?People stand near a bus transporting the rebels and their families in the southern province of Daraa, Syria, on July 15, 2018. Rebels and their families started evacuating Syria's southern province of Daraa Sunday under a Russian-mediated deal, local media and activists said. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)
DAMASCUS, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Rebels and their families started evacuating Syria's southern province of Daraa Sunday under a Russian-mediated deal, local media and activists said.
Buses transporting the rebels and their families started leaving the Daraa al-Balad area, which is the old part of the capital city of Daraa and located in the southern part of the city, towards rebel-held areas in northern Syria.
The state news agency SANA said tens of rebels and families were leaving Daraa, while other reports placed the numbers of those who reject to reconcile with the government over 1,000.
The deal in Daraa al-Balad and other areas in Daraa was designed for the rebels to hand over their heavy weapons to the Syrian army, and either remain in their areas and embark on a reconciliation process or leave towards rebel-held areas in northern Syria.
Sunday's evacuation is the first to take place in Daraa since the Syrian army launched a wide-scale military campaigns to drive out the rebels from Daraa on June 19.
Meanwhile, SANA said the rebels in the town of Jasem in the northwestern countryside of Daraa are still surrendering their weapons to the army.
As part of the deal, the rebels set free five people who had been kidnapped by the militants in Daraa al-Balad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Syrian army has captured over 86 percent of Daraa province, either through reconciliation deals or military action.
The Syrian army has also captured the borderline with Jordan during the nearly month-long campaign.
Now, the Syrian army is advancing towards besieged areas in the Yarmouk Basin, which are controlled by militants allied with the Islamic State (IS) in western Daraa near the border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Daraa has a symbolic significance as it was the birthplace of the Syrian war that erupted in 2011. Securing it will be a big victory for the Syrian army both symbolically and militarily as the rebels have used the Jordanian border to bring in arms and fighters throughout the war.
