A convoy of ambulances carrying fighters and the wounded from the besieged region Al-Zabadani to the Syrian-Lebanese border (Reuters)

More than 450 militants and civilians from three Syrian towns were evacuated in accordance with an agreement between the regime and militant opposition factions in an unprecedented exchange. The operation was completed after the “Al-Zabadani- Kafria- Al-Faw’ah” agreement (which is named after the towns involved) was successfully implemented after a ceasefire between the Syrian opposition fighters and the regime was observed for 3 months under the auspices of international organisations.

An envoy of ambulances carrying 126 injured fighters from the city of Al-Zabadani in rural Damascus near the Lebanese border which is blockaded by Syrian regime forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah crossed the Syrian-Lebanese border and headed towards the airport in Beirut so that the fighters could travel to Turkey. Another envoy crossed the Bab Al-Hawa crossing to transport fighters from Kafria and Al-Faw’ah,which are both in the Idlib governorate, to Beirut.

In a related matter, the Syrian opposition yesterday criticised the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks in which he said that the Syrian opposition had not yet agreed on the formation of its delegation for negotiations. Faruk Tayfur, a member of the “supreme negotiating body” which emerged from the Riyadh conference for Syrian opposition forces, said that the body had decided on 34 names to participate in the delegation which will negotiate with the regime directly and 34 other names to participate in the negotiating delegation. He added that they are “waiting to meet the UN envoy Staffan de Mistura to determine the final number of members in the participating delegations”.