Syrian regime and opposition agrees to allow 250 people to leave blockaded towns, Hezbollah-controlled Al Manar TV station reports

Youths carry children through a site damaged from what activists said was shelling by the Assad regime in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus.
Youths carry children through a site damaged from what activists said was shelling by the Assad regime in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus. (TRT World and Agencies)

An agreement has been reached for 250 people to leave two towns blockaded by Syrian oppositions in northwestern Syria and for the same number to leave two towns surrounded by pro-regime forces near the Lebanese border, the Hezbollah-controlled Al Manar TV station reported on Wednesday.

The towns blockaded by oppositions are Al Foua and Kefraya in Idlib province, both predominantly Shi'ite and loyal to the Assad regime. The towns at the Lebanese border surrounded by pro-regime forces are Zabadani and Madaya.

The warring parties agreed on a local ceasefire for the four towns in September 2015, even though the agreement has not been exactly fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition has suspended UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva in protest against worsening situation on ground.

The opposition's coordinator at the Geneva talks, Riad Hijab, said it was unacceptable for talks to go on if the regime and its allies pushed on with sieges and bombing civilian areas.

The UN estimates the death toll in Syria, since the start of the war to be at least 250,000. But the Syrian Centre for Policy Research released a report on February 10 stating that the death toll has now exceeded 470,000.

Source: TRT World