Nearly 5,500 militants leave Eastern Ghouta — Defense Ministry

Almost 5,500 militants of the Faylaq ar-Rahman group and their family members left Syria’s Eastern Ghouta on Sunday and were taken to the Idlib province, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The evacuation from the settlement of Arbil in Eastern Ghouta, a Damascus suburb, was carried out under the agreement between the group’s leaders and the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties in Syria.

"Some 5,453 militants and their family members were evacuated via a humanitarian corridor on March 25 in 81 buses to the Idlib province," the ministry said in a statement.

Over the past two days, 6,441 militants and their family members have been evacuated from Arbil to the Idlib province, the ministry said. Officers of the Russian reconciliation center and also representatives of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent ensured their security during the entire route.

Some 4,979 militants and their family members were evacuated from the Syrian capital’s northeastern suburb of Harasta to the Idlib province on Sunday.