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Hundreds of Barada Valley’s Displaced Arrive to Rebel-held Idleb

Thousands of people transported from the Barada Valley this week since regime forces took complete control of the area west of the capital on Sunday, opposition media Alsouria Net reports
Hundreds of Barada Valley’s Displaced Arrive to Rebel-held Idleb

A convoy of 19 buses carrying the last batch of displaced people, including 800 civilians and 70 wounded Free Syrian Army soldiers, from the Barada Valley in the Damascus countryside arrived in Idleb province on Tuesday.

The move follows the signing of a deal between the opposition and the Assad regime on Saturday which calls for the Barada valley area west of Damascus to be delivered to the regime and the removal of the fighters who refuse to accept the deal to Idleb.

Those arriving in the latest convoy took shelter in the cities of Saraqeb and Ariha and the town of Sarmin.

Earlier on Monday, 1,300 people including wounded fighters and civilians also arrived in Idleb.

The Barada Valley lies around 16 kilometers from Damascus and about 12 kilometers from the border with Lebanon. The number of residents including those displaced totaled about 100,000 people, although the inhabited space is no more than 12 square kilometers.

The Barada Valley is the area that has seen the most violations of the ceasefire which was agreed upon on December 30 with guarantors Russia and Turkey.

Regime forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah militias imposed a siege on the area in July last year with the aim of taking control of water sources and the nearby springs.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

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