More than 250 fighters of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and their families will be evacuated from the northern Homs countryside pocket to Idlib governorate on May 6 under the reconciliation agreement, which was reached on May 2, the Syrian pro-opposition news outlet Enab Baladi reported on May 5.
Earlier Syrian oppositions sources revealed that the evacuation of the militants from the northern Homs countryside pocket had been delayed until May 7. However, it appears that the evacuation of HTS fighters was not delayed, likely because they are against the reconciliation agreement.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that units of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) are still removing the barriers from the Hama-Aleppo highway in the northern Homs countryside pocket as a part of the reconciliation agreement. The SANA added that the Free Syrian Army (SAA) had handed over more heavy weapons to the SAA including two tanks and a Shilka vehicle on May 5.
The SAA recovered three BMP-1 vehicles, two battle tanks, a Shilka vehicle and an artillery piece from the FSA on May 3 and 4, according to the Hezbollah media wing.
So far, the militants in the northern Homs countryside pocket have appeared to be respecting the reconciliation agreement, despite that many Syrian opposition activists have claimed that most of the militants are against the agreement.
