Homs has been a key battleground throughout the Syrian crisis
Syrian
rebels have begun evacuating the last area they hold in the city of
Homs under a ceasefire deal reached with the government, a monitoring
group has said.
The deal means the entire city returns to government control.Those leaving are due to go to areas of Idlib province still in rebel hands.
Homs, in central Syria, was once dubbed the "capital of the revolution" and saw some of the first protests against President Bashar al-Assad, in 2011.
The first bus has left the rebel-held area of al-Waer in Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
About 800 people, including rebel fighters and civilians, are due to leave throughout Wednesday, the observatory said.
Under the UN-backed ceasefire, food aid has reached the neighbourhood for the first time in nearly a year.
Ahead of the deal, the Syrian authorities said they released 35 opposition fighters detained in Homs.
"We wish for the best," said one resident. "What do we want but safety?"
A significant deal: Lyse Doucet, BBC News, Homs
Al-Waer is the last rebel-held area of Homs
This very sensitive and significant deal has been reached after more than two years of sporadic negotiations.
Under the first phase of the agreement, hundreds of fighters, including those linked to al-Qaeda, will leave the besieged neighbourhood.
More moderate groups who have accepted the ceasefire will remain in al-Waer for the moment.
Syrian activists criticise such deals as surrenders forced by punishing blockades.
But the Syrian government, which has concluded similar deals in other areas, sees them as the best way to end the fighting on its own terms. And in some areas they have allowed some groups to keep their weapons and some control over their own communities.
Homs, Syria's third-largest city, has long been of geographic, strategic and economic importance. Before the uprising its population was estimated at 1.5 million.Protests erupted in the city in the early days of the revolt against President Assad in 2011.
Soon, thousands of Homs residents were taking part in demonstrations despite a brutal crackdown by security forces and pro-Assad militiamen that left dozens dead.
But in 2012 the Syrian military began a major operation to retake the city, bombarding rebel-held areas, an assault that trapped thousands of civilians.
Last year a UN-brokered deal saw rebels pull out of one of their last remaining strongholds, the Old City.
