28 March 2018•Update: 28 March 2018
By Burak Karacaoglu and Esref Musa
IDLIB, Syria
More convoys carrying civilians and opposition fighters from the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta arrived in Syria’s central-west Hama province on Wednesday.
According to Anadolu Agency correspondents based in the area, 57 buses -- and four other vehicles for transporting the infirm -- reached Hama with 3,241 passengers aboard.
Later the same day, a seventh convoy of 55 buses also arrived in Hama carrying 3,014 civilians, including a number of injured people and medical patients.
Evacuees will be accommodated at temporary refugee centers -- and in local schools and mosques -- in Syria’s northwestern Idlib and Aleppo provinces.
Last week, the first two convoys evacuated people from Eastern Ghouta’s town of Harasta. These were followed by additional evacuations from the towns of Arbin, Zamalka and Ain Tarma.
The evacuations come as part of a Russia-brokered agreement between Syria’s Assad regime and armed opposition groups.
To date, more than 25,000 people -- including opposition fighters and their families -- have been transported out of Eastern Ghouta.
On Feb. 24, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2401, which called for a ceasefire in Syria -- especially in Eastern Ghouta -- to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Despite the ceasefire resolution, however, the regime and its allies early this month launched a major ground offensive -- backed by Russian air power -- aimed at capturing opposition-held parts of the district.
Since Feb. 19, at least 1,433 people have reportedly been killed in attacks by the regime and its allies in Eastern Ghouta, according to local civil-defense sources.
Home to some 400,000 residents, the district has remained under a crippling regime siege for the last five years that has prevented the delivery of badly-needed humanitarian supplies.
