ISIS Fighters And Families Given Safe Passage Near Damascus

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Injured ISIS fighters and their families are to be given safe passage to leave rebel-held areas in Damascus as Syrian authorities vow to end terrorist presence near the capital.

A UN-brokered deal allows families of ISIS fighters and some injured jihadis to leave parts of Damascus. The deal was reached after ISIS militants negotiated with President Assad’s government, according to a monitoring group on Thursday.

The Daily Mail reports:

Safe passage for the fighters and their families is expected to be given from two districts on the outskirts of the capital, to ISIS-controlled areas in northern Syria.

The aim is believed to be to end ISIS’s presence near Damascus, hopefully leading to a truce between the militants, the rebels and President al-Assad’s government troops.

ISIS fighters are expected to be allowed to leave Yarmouk, an district of Damascus which is a Palestinian refugee camp, and the suburb of Hajar al Aswad, said Rami Abdulraham, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The families and some fighters will be taken to Raqqa in northern Syria, the stronghold of the militant Sunni Islamist group, and other IS-controlled areas over several months, eventually ending the group’s presence near the capital.

ISIS has had a significant foothold in Hajar al Aswad, just a few kilometres from President Bashar al Assad’s seat of power.

Syrian minister for national reconciliation Ali Haidar said efforts were under way to get militants out of the Yarmouk camp but gave no details.

Several local ceasefires and safe-passage agreements have been concluded elsewhere in Syria recently.

ISIS has had a significant foothold in Hajar al Aswad, just a few kilometres from President Bashar al Assad’s seat of power.

Syrian minister for national reconciliation Ali Haidar said efforts were under way to get militants out of the Yarmouk camp but gave no details.

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