DAMASCUS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- A partial agreement has been reached between the rebels and the Russians in the last rebel-held district in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of the Syrian capital Damascus, a monitor group reported on Sunday.
While a final agreement in the Douma district hasn't been reached between the Islam Army rebels and the Russian side, the partial deal will see the evacuation of 1,300 civilians, including activists, to rebel-held areas in northern Syria, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Those civilians will evacuate Douma through the corridor between Douma and the government-controlled Wafideen area northeast of Damascus, according to the observatory.
Negotiations between the Russians and the Islam Army have been ongoing for quite some time, in an attempt to reach an understanding similar to what has been reached in major areas in Eastern Ghouta, where the rebels and their families have completely evacuated their key areas.
After the last batch left the towns of Jobar, Arbeen, Zamalka and Ayn Tarma on Saturday evening, the entire Eastern Ghouta has become under the government control except for Douma, which is the largest and most densely-populated area in Eastern Ghouta.
In its offensive that started late last month, the Syrian army captured large swathes of Eastern Ghouta and when it got close to the four towns, the rebels of Failaq al-Rahman asked for their evacuation.
The observatory said the only obstacle in the negotiations between the Islam Army and the Russians is the destination of 60,000 rebels and their families in Douma, a large number in comparison with the number that has evacuated the four towns as local reports placed the number of rebels and their families who evacuated other areas of Eastern Ghouta at around 40,000 people.
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.
Four major rebel groups have been in control of Eastern Ghouta since 2012, namely the Islam Army, Failaq al-Rahman, Ahrar al-Sham, and the Levant Liberation Committee, known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.
