An evacuation of militants and their supporters has started in the Rastan pocket in northern Homs.
On May 7, 62 buses carrying out a batch of militants left the area towards the northern town of Jarabulus currently controlled by Turkey and its proxies. A second batch is set to leave the area on May 8. According to local sources, about 3,000 persons are set to be evacuated.
Prior to the start of the evacuation, local militants handed over 6 battle tanks, 3 BMP vehicles, two Shilka vehicles as well as mortars, anti-tank guided missiles, surface-to-air missiles and other weapons.
The evacuation process is expected to be finished within up to 7 days. Once this is done, government forces will re-establish full control of the Rastan pocket and re-open the strategic Homs-Hama highway.
In southern Damascus, government troops have captured the IT Secondary School and a number of buildings in the western part of the al-Hajar al-Aswad district from ISIS.