Syria's third largest city has been cleared of armed opposition for the first time since 2011. Once the center of the revolt against the Assad regime, Homs' clearance marks a major shift in the balance of forces.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Sana
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The clearance of Homs follows the evacuation of the last rebel-held neighborhood, al-Waer, which had been besieged for four years, the Syrian government said Sunday.
"It is a great achievement today," Homs governor Talal Barrazi told Syrian TV channel al-Ikhbariya. He said state institutions will begin returning to al-Waer immediately.
A correspondent with French news agency Agence France-Presse said the evacuees left on board 50 buses as more than 30 trucks packed with household belongings trailed behind.
"The last bus [with evacuees on board] has left the al-Waer neighborhood," Barazi told the French news agency Agence France-Presse. "There are no more weapons or armed men in al-Waer [...] we can declare Homs to be a secure city."
Syrian TV broadcast from inside al-Waer showed children and men gathering around government-sponsored trucks distributing bread and goods.
Rebel fighters left with women and children on board 50 busesImage: picture-alliance/dpa/Sputnik/М. Алаеддин
Government on the offensive
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 20,000 people had been evacuated from al-Waer to the rebel-held areas in the country's north over the past several weeks.
Rebels still control areas north of Homs, while the government is on the offensive against so-called "Islamic State" militants to the south.
Syria's opposition and armed rebels are now concentrated in the rebel-held northern province of Idlib, and in rural Aleppo along the border with Turkey. IS militants still hold territory in eastern and northeastern Syria and south of Homs.
Russian soldiers to be deployed
Homs had been at least partially controlled by the rebels since the early days of the revolt that broke out in 2011.
The Russian-supervised operation to clear the area began two months ago and has been carried out over several weeks. At least 600 Russian soldiers will reportedly now be deployed in al-Waer to provide security for residents who still live there or for those who were displaced by fighting and wish to return home.
Who's fighting in the Syria conflict?
Syria's civil war erupted out of the Arab Spring protests that swept much of the Middle East and North Africa in 2011. The conflict has since drawn in multiple warring factions from around the world.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
War with no end
Syria has been engulfed in a devastating civil war since 2011 after Syrian President Bashar Assad lost control over large parts of the country to multiple revolutionary groups. The conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and brought misery and death to Syrians.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/A. Al-Bushy
The dictator
Syria's army, officially known as the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is fighting to restore the president's rule over the entire country. The SAA has been fighting alongside a number of pro-Assad militias such as the National Defense Force and has cooperated with military advisors from Russia and Iran, which back Assad.
Turkey, which is also part of the US-led coalition against IS, has actively supported rebels opposed to Assad. It has a tense relationship with its American allies over US cooperation with Kurdish fighters, who Ankara says are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting in Turkey. Turkey has launched multiple military offensives targeting Kurdish militias.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/L. Pitarakis
The eastern guardian
The Kremlin has proven to be a powerful friend to Assad. Russian air power and ground troops officially joined the fight in September 2015 after years of supplying the Syrian army. Moscow has come under fire from the international community for the high number of civilian casualties during its airstrikes. However, Russia's intervention turned the tide in war in favor of Assad.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tass/M. Metzel
The western allies
A US-led coalition of more than 50 countries, including Germany, began targeting IS and other terrorist targets with airstrikes in late 2014. The anti-IS coalition has dealt major setbacks to the militant group. The US has more than a thousand special forces in the country backing the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Brandon
The rebels
The Free Syrian Army grew out of protests against the Assad regime that eventually turned violent. Along with other non-jihadist rebel groups, it seeks the ouster of President Assad and democratic elections. After suffering a number of defeats, many of its members defected to hardline militant groups. It garnered some support from the US and Turkey, but its strength has been greatly diminished.
Image: Reuters
The resistance
Fighting between Syrian Kurds and Islamists has become its own conflict. The US-led coalition against the "Islamic State" has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. The Kurdish YPG militia is the main component of the SDF. The Kurds have had a tacit understanding with Assad.
Image: Getty Images/A. Sik
The new jihadists
"Islamic State" (IS) took advantage of regional chaos to capture vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014. Seeking to establish its own "caliphate," IS has become infamous for its fundamentalist brand of Islam and its mass atrocities. IS is on the brink of defeat after the US and Russia led separate military campaigns against the militant group.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
The old jihadists
IS is not the only terrorist group that has ravaged Syria. A number of jihadist militant groups are fighting in the conflict, warring against various rebel factions and the Assad regime. One of the main jihadist factions is Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which controls most of Idlib province and has ties with al-Qaeda.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Nusra Front on Twitter
The Persian shadow
Iran has supported Syria, its only Arab ally, for decades. Eager to maintain its ally, Tehran has provided Damascus with strategic assistance, military training and ground troops when the conflict emerged in 2011. The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah also supports the Assad regime, fighting alongside Iranian forces and paramilitary groups in the country.
