On 17 April 2018, rebel groups in the eastern

Qalamoun Mountains The Qalamoun Mountains () are the northeastern portion of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, and they are northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus. They run from Barada River Valley in the southwest to the city of Hisyah in the northeast. Western Q ...

pocket, led by

Jaysh al-Islam Jaysh al-Islam (, meaning ''Army of Islam''), formerly known as Liwa al-Islam (, Brigade of Islam), is a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in the Syrian Civil War. The group was part of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Counc ...

, reached a surrender agreement with the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The agreement came after 2 weeks of negotiations that began with a Syrian Army ultimatum on 3 April. Around 1,500 rebels handed over heavy weapons and equipment to the Syrian Army, and were evacuated by 124 buses in 4 convoys to Turkish-held areas in the northern

Aleppo Governorate Aleppo Governorate ( / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalab'' ) is one of the fourteen Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is the most populous governorate in Syria with a population of more than 4,867,000 (2011 Est.), almost 23% of the t ...

along with their families, totaling around 5,000 people. On 25 April, the last batch of rebels and their families left the eastern Qalamoun pocket, and the region came under full Syrian government control.

Background

Rebels in the town of al-Dumayr and the rest of the eastern Qalamoun pocket have been in a state of ceasefire with government forces throughout 2016, with both sides focusing on fighting the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

. In mid-2017, however government forces launched an offensive against rebels in the

Syrian Desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...

to the east of the pocket, following a previous rebel offensive against ISIL in the region. In late March 2018, the Levant Liberation Army launched an attack on Syrian Army positions in the eastern Qalamoun Mountains. This came amidst the Syrian Army offensive in eastern Ghouta.

Rebel surrender and evacuation

On 3 April 2018, rebel groups in the eastern Qalamoun pocket formed a unified military command, which met with a Russian and

Air Force Intelligence Directorate The Air Force Intelligence Directorate () was an intelligence service of Ba'athist Syria from 1970 until 2024, owing its importance to Hafez al-Assad's role as the Air Force commander. Despite its name, it was mainly involved with issues other t ...

officer, the latter issued an ultimatum to the rebels, demanding that they either disarm and reconcile, or leave the eastern Qalamoun pocket entirely. The rebel committee refused to leave and demanded the release of prisoners. The Levant Liberation Army stated that it was not part of the unified military command, denied any coordination with it, and rejected negotiations with Russia. On 8 April, the rebel unified command again met with Russian and Syrian Army officers, and reached a preliminary agreement. On 17 April, the government-run

Syrian Arab News Agency The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) () is a Syrian State media, state-owned news agency, linked to Ministry of Information (Syria), the country's ministry of information. It was established in June 1965. SANA publishes more than 500 news storie ...

announced that

and the

Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo The Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo is a Syrian rebel group previously affiliated with the Free Syrian Army's Southern Front. The group was named after either Ahmad al-Abdo al-Saeed, a Syrian civilian who was killed in the early 2011 protests ...

in Dumayr have surrendered, and began to hand over heavy and medium weapons to the government. 5,000 people, which included 1,500 rebel fighters and 3,000 civilians, prepared to leave. Clashes also continued in the nearby mountains. On 18 April, Shaher Juma, head of the rebel negotiations committee in Dumayr, was assassinated by unidentified gunmen. On 19 April, the rebel unified command agreed to hand over weapons and surrender the entire eastern Qalamoun pocket, including the towns of Dumayr,

Jayrud Jairoud (; also spelled Jerud or Jayroud) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate, located northeast of Damascus in the Qalamoun Mountains. Nearby localities include ar-Ruhaybah, al-Qutayfah and Muadamiy ...

, and al-Naseriyah. Russian officers pledged to pardon people who evaded conscription in the towns. The first batch of 2,500 people, including 600 rebels, were then transported by 44 buses from Dumayr to

Jarabulus Jarabulus (, ALA-LC: , Syrian Arabic, Aleppo dialect: ; or ; ) is a Syrian city administratively belonging to Aleppo Governorate, under the de facto control of the Syrian Opposition. Jarabulus lies on the western bank of the Euphrates and north ...

. The second convoy of at least 30 buses departed in the early hours of 22 April, and included 1,200

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

and

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, was a coalition of multiple Sunni Islamist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bas ...

fighters and their families, who arrived in the

Afrin District Afrin District (, Kurdish: Herêma Efrînê) is a district of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Afrin. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 172,095. Also available in English: Afrin ...

. The 3rd convoy arrived in the

al-Bab Al-Bab ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Bāb'') is a Syrian city, administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate. Al-Bab is located northeast of Aleppo, south of the Turkish border, and has an area of . Al-Bab has an altitude of . According to the Cen ...

area on 24 April, and the 4th and final batch of 60 buses arrived in northern Aleppo on 25 April. With this, the eastern Qalamoun Mountains came under full government control, and the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic was raised in

's main square. Along with the territory, the Syrian Arab army said that it also gained back several heavy weapons including a dozen of tanks. After further territorial sweeps on 17 May, pro-government media reported that eight more tanks were found.

References

{{Syrian Civil War April 2018 in Syria Rif Dimashq Governorate in the Syrian civil war Military operations of the Syrian civil war in 2018 Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving Tahrir al-Sham Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Syrian government Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving Ahrar al-Sham Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving Russia Military operations of the Syrian civil war involving the Free Syrian Army

Background

Rebel surrender and evacuation

See also

References