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DAMASCUS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The governor of Syria's central province of Homs, Talal Barazi, said Monday that an agreement has been reached with rebels in their last remaining stronghold in the city to evacuate toward the northern city of Idlib, state media reported.
The evacuation of the Waer neighborhood will start soon as part of the ongoing efforts to clear the neighborhood of rebel presence.
Barazi said the agreement will have the cooperation of the Russian reconciliation center, which oversees the implementation of deals between rebels and the Syrian government.
The rebels and their families will leave Waer, the last rebel-held neighborhood in Homs, for Idlib in batches, said the governor, adding that the process is expected to take between six to eight weeks.
Police and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent will oversee the evacuation process, as Russian forces coordinate and secure the road for the evacuees toward Idlib.
The return of government institutions to the neighborhood will start after the evacuation of the last batch of rebels, according to the deal.
"The true victory is through the return of the state authorities, either by reconciliations or battling the terrorist groups," the governor said.
An initial agreement for evacuating the rebels from Waer was reached several months ago, and saw the evacuation of some batches of rebels, but full implementation of the deal was hindered amid fresh battles and shelling.
Last month, six suicide bombers detonated themselves in two security headquarters in Homs, killing at least 42 people, mostly security personnel.
At the time, some reports suggested that the bombings were carried out by ultra-radical groups from Waer, which was subject to relentless shelling from the government side.
