Homs deal between rebels and Syrian forces enters second phase | Middle East Eye
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Syrian rebels in a former opposition stronghold in Homs will relinquish nearly half their heavy weapons as part of a landmark truce with the government, the provincial governor said on Wednesday.
Talal Barazi told AFP that the second phase of the agreement over Waer, which had been the last opposition-held neighbourhood in the central city, was under way.
The deal, which is being presided over by the United Nations, was reached in December and envisions Waer coming under government control in exchange for the lifting of a devastating three-year siege.
Waer saw some of the first protests in 2011 and, as rebel fighters took control of most of the city, it was nicknamed the “capital of the revolution”.
Over the past two years, Waer’s population has been under siege, and their numbers have dwindled from a pre-war 300,000 to about 75,000.
In the first step, carried out last month, about 700 people - 400 women and children and 300 rebel fighters - were evacuated from the district in 15 buses.
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