DAMASCUS, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Four strategic towns of Syria's capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta countryside are cleared of rebels, as the last batch of rebels and their families got on the buses to leave toward rebel-held areas in the north, according to the state media outlets.
The liberation of Jobar, Zamalka, Ayn Tarma and Arbeen will be declared in the next few hours, as the last rebel batch is preparing to leave those areas, leaving the entire Eastern Ghouta free of rebels except the district of Douma in the northern part of Eastern Ghouta.
State news agency SANA said that 10 buses entered Arbeen to evacuate the remaining rebels and their families from the four towns, adding that 38 buses have become packed and ready to leave with 1,706 people, including 494 rebels.
SANA said the liberation of the four towns constitutes a major step in declaring the entire Eastern Ghouta free of rebels.
Technically, the four towns have become free of rebels as the last batch is preparing to leave, with the army forces preparing to enter those areas after losing them to the rebels six years ago.
Earlier in the day, SANA said as many as 38,000 rebels and their families have evacuated central towns of Eastern Ghouta toward rebel-held areas in Idlib since the evacuation process started last Saturday.
The four towns are considered to be the most dangerous to the capital due to their proximity to eastern Damascus neighborhoods. The rebels in those areas have repeatedly attempted to infiltrate the capital from those areas and have launched countless mortar shells on the neighborhoods of Damascus.
After the four areas, only the district of Douma in the northern part of Eastern Ghouta remains under the Islam Army's control amid ongoing negotiations mediated by the Russians for achieving similar agreement in Douma.
The pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said the agreement of Douma could be concluded in the next hours.
This development came as the Syrian army has so far captured over 90 percent of Eastern Ghouta in an offensive that has been dragging on since late last month.
Eastern Ghouta, a 105-square-km agricultural region consisting of several towns and farmlands, poses the last threat to the capital due to its proximity to government-controlled neighborhoods east of Damascus and ongoing mortar attacks that target residential areas in the capital, pushing people over the edge.
Eastern Ghouta was controlled by four major rebel groups, namely the Islam Army, Failaq al-Rahman, Ahrar al-Sham, and the Levant Liberation Committee, known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.
