The fighters in the city of Deraa in south-western Syria, who used to occupy the territory of the al-Balad district, surrender their weapons to the governmental forces, Alexander Guliev, a representative of the Russian Center for the reconciliation of the warring parties in the Syrian Arab Republic, told reporters.
Earlier it was reported that in early September the fighters and family members began to leave the city through a humanitarian corridor after representatives of the Russian center took part in the negotiations.
"So far, more than 300 small arms: mortars, machine guns and grenade launchers have been handed over," Gulyaev said. Surrendering weapons is one of the conditions of amnesty for members of illegal armed groups. Also, militants can leave the city and go to the Idlib de-escalation zone in the north of Syria.
The safety of civilians in the city will be ensured by the Syrian police and Russian military police officers.
It was in the city of Deraa that anti-government demonstrations began in 2011, eventually turning into a war between the Syrian government army and Islamist fighters. In 2018, militants in the area surrendered heavy weapons to Syrian authorities. Most of them declared their reconciliation with the government of the republic. However, the situation has not been fully stabilized until recently. Clashes between different groups of fighters, attacks on authorities, security services and civilians have been observed. In early August, the authorities of the republic applied to the Russian Center for the reconciliation of the warring parties for help in further settling the conflict and restoring order.
The city of Deraa is located in the southwest of Syria and is the administrative center of the province of the same name.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS