The evacuation of a rebel-held neighborhood in Syria’s central city of Homs has begun under a deal brokered with President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Reports say three buses loaded with 150 people -- mostly civilians, including women and children -- left the city’s Al-Waer neighborhood on December 9.
A total of 3,200 rebel fighters and their families are meant to be evacuated in last week’s deal, which came a week after the start of an evacuation of the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Qudsayya.
Meanwhile, members of Syria’s fractured opposition and rebel groups were meeting in the capital of Saudi Arabia on December 9 to try to forge a common stance at peace talks expected in the weeks ahead.
That gathering in Riyadh includes members of the powerful Islamist insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham, whose founders had links to Al-Qaeda.
However, Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria, Al-Nusra Front, and the Syrian Kurds have not been invited.