Syrian regime denies negotiating deal to evacuate IS fighters from southern Damascus

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Syrian regime has denied reaching an agreement to evacuate a group of Islamic State (IS) militants from an enclave near the Syrian capital of Damascus, state media Sana reported on Sunday.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the IS militants were allowed to leave the region near the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp after an agreement was negotiated between the Syrian regime.

“A ceasefire came into effect midday today [Saturday], ostensibly for five hours,” the Observatory said.

Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the British-based war monitor, said that six buses had carried the extremists and their families out of the region neighboring the Tadamun district.

“The six buses left at dawn, heading east for the Syrian desert,” Rahman was quoted as saying by AFP, adding they were being transported to the Badiya area between eastern Homs and western Deir al-Zor Province.

Despite reports of an evacuation, state media Sana has denied that any deal was struck between the regime and the IS members. Meanwhile, Al-Watan, a pro-government newspaper, said the militants had surrendered.

Following the capture of Eastern Ghouta, forces loyal to the Syrian regime launched an assault in southern Damascus against IS in April.

The Syrian Observatory says fighting in southern Damascus has killed nearly 500 extremists and over 250 pro-regime fighters as well as 56 civilians.

Syria’s seven-year-long civil war has left over 350,000 people dead since it began in 2011, at first a crackdown of anti-government demonstrations before becoming one of the deadliest conflicts in the world involving several world powers.