The Assad regime has allowed 31 families to leave the Damascus suburb of Douma, besieged by Syrian forces for more than a year.
State news agency SANA said the families had been given from Douma and nearby Zibdin, northeast of the capital, which have been held by the opposition since autumn 2012. The agency also claimed “several armed men…turned themselves in”.
Three weeks ago, 76 families were allowed out of the area.
The Syrian military has been pursuing its “surrender or starve” campaign, successful in pacifying other Damascus suburbs, with the cutoff of food, medicine, and other essential goods.
An activist in Douma, Saeed al-Batal, said there were fears those evacuated would be detained or conscripted into pro-regime militia. He claimed that those who left Douma in mid-November were still held.
