• Jihadists evacuated from Duma stronghold \u0026 # x27;

damascus - Two buses with fighters from the extremist group Jaish al-Islam and relatives left the besieged enclave Duma on Monday after negotiations. According to Syrian state media, they go to Jarablus, a place on the Turkish border on the right bank of the river Euphrates that is not in the hands of the government.

The vehicles must be the first of a series to take away the fighters of Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) from the destroyed suburb of Damascus, Duma. With that, the main group of the East-Ghouta region has made the withdrawal.

Duma, less than 10 kilometers northeast of Damascus, has been besieged since 2013. In February, the Syrian armed forces and their allies started to take East Ghouta. Part of the tactic is heavy air attacks that encourage the fighters to accept the offer to evacuate them. Previously, after long sieges, radical Sunni fighters had left from East Aleppo, in the north of the country (2016) and recently from strongholds south of Duma.

Damascus justifies the sieges and shelling by pointing out that terrorists hold civilians hostage and use them as human shields. East Ghouta was in the hands of various combat groups, especially jihadists such as Jaish al-Islam. Some years ago, a few years ago, they let hostage civilians ride around in cages or drop them at places where they expected an attack. Jaish al-Islam now presents itself more moderately to the outside world. Just south of the center of Damascus there is still an enclave in the hands of groups such as Mukhayam al-Yarmuk of Islamic State.