Shiites in two northern Syrian towns are being evacuated in exchange for moving Sunni rebels and civilians out of two others. More than 30,000 people are expected to be evacuated under the deal.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Syrian Central Military Media
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Under a deal brokered by opposition backer Qatar and regime ally Iran, the Syrian government and the opposition on Friday began a coordinated population swap of tens of thousands of people from four besieged towns.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said buses carrying rebels began leaving the rebel-held towns Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus on Friday morning in the first phase of the deal, which will also see the evacuation of residents from two pro-government Shiite villages in northern Syria.
All 16,000 residents of the majority Shiite towns of al-Foua and Kefraya - long besieged by insurgents in the northwestern Idlib province - are expected to leave, heading to government-held Aleppo, the coastal province of Latakia or Damascus.
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.
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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.
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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.
Image: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
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A member of one of the Shiite parties said 60 buses were moving through the town of al-Foua.
Dozens of buses entered the areas on Wednesday, but by late Thursday people had not boarded them, opposition activists in the rebel-held towns said.
Zabadani evacuation delayed
Buses carrying mostly Sunni rebel fighters and their families also simultaneously left the town of Madaya near Damascus on Friday, encircled by government forces and their allies. Civilian residents there will reportedly be allowed to remain if they choose.
According to the Observatory, the evacuation of Zabadani, also besieged by the government side, has been delayed until Friday evening or early Saturday.
'Deliberate demographic change'
Over the past year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has struck numerous deals enabling rebels and their families to leave opposition-held areas, often after months or years of being besieged by government forces.
The opposition, however, says the deals amount to forced population transfer and deliberate demographic change.
The armed opposition fighting for more than half a decade to unseat Assad is mostly Sunni Muslim, like most of Syria's population. Assad is from the Alawite religious minority, and is supported by Shiite fighters from Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group. More than 300,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011.
