(Zaman Al Wasl)- Jaish al-Islam, key rebel group in Eastern Ghouta, said Friday an evacuation deal had been reached with Russia and the United Nations to deport fighters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, former al-Qaeda branch in Syria, from the stricken suburbs to northern Idlib province.
The deal may lessen the heavy bombardment on Ghouta as the death toll of Russian and regime airstrikes reached a total of 931 in three weeks in one of the deadliest offensives in Syria's war, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In less than two weeks, the regime army has retaken nearly all the farmland in Eastern Ghouta, under cover of near-ceaseless shelling and air strikes, leaving only a handful towns - about half the enclave - still under rebel control.
According to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), more than 1,000 people have been killed.
Rebels denied regime reports of dividing Eastern Ghouta in two, saying they have thwarted regime attack, retaking ground in Beit Sawa and Rihan sububs.
Also on Friday, 13 trucks of food aid crossed into the city of Douma.
The development came on Friday after an overnight pause in fighting encouraged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to send the convoy in, that had previously been delayed due to violence.
The UN estimates that 400,000 people live in the rebel-held areas of Eastern Ghouta.
The attack on Douma as the aid convoy entered the area is part of a larger trend. On Friday, the World Health Organization verified 67 attacks on health facilities in the first two months of 2018.
UN aid agencies have pleaded with the Syrian government and its ally, Russia, to halt the air campaign and allow access.
Syria and Russia have both said the assault is needed to stop rebel shelling of Damascus.
The regime and Russia's military have opened what they say are safe routes out of the enclave, but nobody has left yet.
The two allies accuse the Syrian rebels of shooting at civilians to prevent them from fleeing the fighting into government areas.
The rebels deny the accusation and say the area's inhabitants have not crossed into government territory because they fear persecution.
(With Agencies)
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