2nd LD-Writethru: Deal reached for rebels to evacuate southern Damascus' Yarmouk Camp

DAMASCUS, April 29 (Xinhua) -- A deal was reached on Sunday for the rebels to evacuate the Yarmouk Camp area in south of Syrian capital Damascus on Monday, the state TV reported.

The rebels in the area will depart for the rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib, and in return, the rebels in Idlib will break a siege imposed for years on the pro-government towns of Kafraya and Foa in Idlib's countryside.

About 1,500 rebels, out of a total of 5,000, from Kafraya and Foa will be evacuated as the first step of the deal, the report said.

Under the deal, the rebels will release 85 kidnapped people from the town of Eshtabraq.

However, the state TV report declined to disclose further details on the names of the rebel groups that will evacuate Yarmouk Camp, 75 percent of which are under the control of the militant group Islamic State (IS).

The camp houses a large population of Palestinian refugees in Syria, but it has been inhabited by both Palestinians and Syrians.

In 2015, IS took over large areas of the camp. The rest of the area is believed to be controlled by the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

The Syrian army has been on a crushing offensive on the Yarmouk Camp and the adjacent Hajar al-Aswad area to drive out IS militants, after the terror-designated group rejected a deal to evacuate these areas earlier this month.

The Syrian state news agency SANA reported Sunday that Syrian forces carried out precision strikes on the Hajar al-Aswad area, targeting IS supply routes deep in the Hajar al-Aswad area, which was not mentioned in the evacuation deal. Enditem