Fighter of Faylaq al-Rahman in Jobar district, Illustrative image
On March 23, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Faylaq al-Rahman reached an agreement with the Damascus government to evacuate their fighters from their remaining positions in the districts of Zamalka, Irbin, Ayn Tarma, Hazzah and Jobar in Eastern Ghouta to the northern governorate of Idlib, the Syrian state TV reported.
The media said the evacuation of more than 7,000 persons including all the remaining fighters of HTS and Faylaq al-Rahman will begin on March 24. The two armed groups will also hand over their heavy weapons along with maps of their tunnels and will release all the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers who had been captured by them during previous battles under the agreement.
Few weeks ago, Faylaq al-Rahman leader Captain Abdel Nasser Shamir vowed to fight against the SAA until death in an official video message. Shamir also warned anyone from negotiating with Russia or the Damascus government.
However, it appears that the rapid advance of the SAA broke Shamir’s will to fight, especially after the Ahrar al-Sham Movement had agreed to leave the East Ghouta region towards Idlib on March 21.
