Homs ceasefire to allow Syrian rebel withdraw

Syrian authorities and rebel fighters agreed a 24-hour ceasefire in the old city district of Homs yesterday to allow besieged rebels pull out of their last stronghold in the central city, a monitoring group and TV stations said.

A final rebel withdrawal from the Syrian city once dubbed the “capital of the revolution” would mark a significant and symbolic military advance by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, one month before his likely re-election as president.

Assad’s forces, backed by fighters from Lebanon’s militant Hizbullah group and Iraqi Shia gunmen, have pushed back the mainly Sunni Muslim rebels and foreign jihadis from around Damascus and central Syria over the last year.

Hundreds of civilians were evacuated from central Homs in early February during a ceasefire overseen by the UN and Red Crescent. Food and medicines were allowed into the besieged area.

Many rebel fighters stayed. But outgunned and surrounded, they have little prospect of holding out.

Hizbullah's Al Manar Television and regional broadcaster said fighting stopped at around noon when the ceasefire came into effect, and that rebel fighters would be allowed to head north out of the centre of the city.
– (Reuters)