Reports: IS fighters vacating outskirts of Syria’s capital
BEIRUT — A cease-fire between Syrian government forces and Islamic State militants in the southern neighbourhoods of Damascus has held for 24 hours amid reports that some of the fighters were permitted to leave, a Syrian war monitoring group said Sunday.
Syria’s official state news agency and government officials denied reaching a deal to allow the militants to evacuate Yarmouk and adjacent areas. State-run al-Ikhbariya TV said government forces plan to drive the militants from their remaining strongholds in the area.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said buses carrying IS fighters left the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk and the adjacent al-Tadamon neighbourhood overnight. A video circulating online showed lines of buses waiting in the camp with their engines running. It was not clear who filmed the video or where the busses were set to go.
Damascus residents said the situation was calm, with no warplanes flying overhead Sunday. Al-Watan, a pro-government newspaper, said the militants are believed to have surrendered. The Observatory said IS militants began burning their posts in Yarmouk and adjacent areas. Residents said that smoke was billowing over the area.