Evacuation of rebel-held Syrian city of Douma is suspended after rift

Evacuations from the rebel-held city of Douma near the Syrian capital were suspended on Thursday, days after hundreds of opposition fighters and their relatives left for areas of the country’s north as part of a surrender deal following a government offensive.

State news agency SANA said the suspension was the result of disagreements within the Army of Islam rebel group, adding that buses that entered Douma for the evacuations on Thursday returned without passengers.

Douma is the last town held by rebels in the eastern Ghouta suburbs of Damascus. Other rebel groups agreed to relocate to the north after a Russia-backed offensive by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government in February and March killed hundreds of people and caused catastrophic destruction.

The Army of Islam appears to have reached a deal with Russia to relocate to parts of northern Syria controlled by Turkey-allied opposition forces. 

On Wednesday, 650 fighters and civilians escorted by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent left Douma and headed north toward the town of Jarablus, according to SANA and opposition activists.