Evacuation of Militants From Yarmouk Refugee Camp On Hold After Rebel Leader Killed

DW: Damascus: Plan to evacuate militants from Yarmouk put on hold

A plan to evacuate thousands of militants and civilians from rebel-held districts of Syria's capital has been put on hold. It comes a day after an airstrike killed a Syrian rebel leader in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

Lebanon-based Hezbollah's Manar TV reported that as part of the UN-sponsored plan, vehicles were supposed to give the fighters safe passage to Raqqa - the de facto capital of the 'Islamic State' group in northern Syria. But the deal was suspended after Zahran Allouch's death, as the convoy was due to pass through territory under his control.

Allouch, 44, was the head of the rebel Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) movement, the most powerful insurgent group in the eastern suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that the evacuation had been expected on Saturday but was delayed as there was now no secure territory for the militants to pass through.

More News On The Evacuation of Militants From Yarmouk Refugee Camp Being Put On Hold After Rebel Leader Killed

Syria war: Yarmouk camp evacuation 'on hold' -- BBC
Evacuation of militants halted following death of leader: Hezbollah -- Al Bawaba
Official: Pullout of militants, including ISIS fighters, near Damascus on hold -- AP
Evacuation of Syrian Islamic State fighters from Damascus delayed -- Reuters
Damascus jihadist evacuation plan on hold as rebel leader killed. -- AFP
Refugee camp evacuation postponed amid fighting -- The Times
Resettlement of militants from Syria's Yarmouk Refugee Camp on hold -- Sputnik
Plan to evacuate jihadists from south Damascus on hold -- i24 News