ISIS Militants Evacuated from Southern Damascus to Desert

Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seen in Deir Ezzor, Syria May 1, 2018. (Reuters)
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seen in Deir Ezzor, Syria May 1, 2018. (Reuters)
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ISIS Militants Evacuated from Southern Damascus to Desert

Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seen in Deir Ezzor, Syria May 1, 2018. (Reuters)
Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are seen in Deir Ezzor, Syria May 1, 2018. (Reuters)

Several buses on Sunday evacuated ISIS militants from their last pockets in southern Damascus to the Syrian Desert in the east under a deal that was reached following weeks of fierce battles.

The deal stipulates the halt of fighting in the Yarmouk camp and the adjacent al-Tadamun neighborhood.

“Six buses, carrying ISIS militants and their families, left the Yarmouk camp and the adjacent al-Tadamun neighborhood at dawn today (Sunday) heading east towards the Syrian Desert,” where the extremists still control some areas, said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Later, the Observatory explained that the convoy of buses headed towards the city of Tadmur on its way to the so-called Badiya area between eastern Homs and west of Deir Ezzor Province.

The Syrian regime has denied reaching an agreement to evacuate a number of ISIS militants from their stronghold in southern Damascus, state media SANA reported on Sunday.

For his part, the secretary of the Alliance of Palestinian Resistance factions in Syria, Khaled Abdul Majid told the German news agency that the Yarmouk withdrawal deal is probably closer to surrender, adding that the extremists had demanded the Russian Army to act as a mediator, securing their evacuation to eastern Syria.

Abdul Majid estimated that about 1,500 people, including the militants and their families, were evacuated on Sunday.

“The extremists burned their residences and belongings in the Yamouk camp and Hajar al-Aswad where all military operations had stopped since Saturday noon,” he added.

In the east of Syria, fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by US-French artillery shelling, advanced on ISIS militants in the last pocket controlled by extremists in Deir Ezzor province.

The SDF forces said they now control the strategic village of Baghuz on the border with Iraq, from where they would resume expelling extremist fighters from the remaining ISIS-held areas on the Euphrates.

Early this month, SDF forces kicked off the final stage of a battle to expel ISIS from eastern Syria.

Backed by the US-led coalition, the Kurdish SDF has driven the extremist group out of large parts of the country.

On Sunday, three towns in Deir Ezzor - Hajeen, Susa and Sha’afah - remained under ISIS control.



Israel Says Apprehended Members of Iran-backed Cell in Syria

06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israel Says Apprehended Members of Iran-backed Cell in Syria

06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
06 July 2025, Palestinian Territories, Tulkarm: An Israeli soldier enforces a ban as he attempts to enter the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank. Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israel's military said Monday it had apprehended members of an Iran-backed cell in southern Syria, the second such operation it has announced in the past week.

Since the December overthrow of Syria's longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes primarily on military sites and carried out cross-border ground raids.

In a statement, the military said troops "completed an overnight operation to apprehend a cell that was operated by the Iranian Quds Force in the Tel Kudna area of southern Syria."

"For the second time in the past week... troops completed a targeted overnight operation and apprehended several operatives who posed a threat in the area," the statement added.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Israeli forces raided early Monday a village in the Quneitra countryside of southern Syria and "carried out searches targeting several homes, which ended with the arrest of two brothers".

On Wednesday, Israel's military said its forces had apprehended members of an Iranian-backed "terrorist cell" in southern Syria and seized weapons.