Dozens of Syrian rebel fighters are
being evacuated from the village of Zabadani near the Lebanese border
under a UN-brokered deal.
A convoy of buses and ambulances has reached Zabadani to take the fighters, and some civilians, to Beirut.The evacuation is part of a truce agreed in September covering Zabadani and two towns in the north which had been under siege from rebel forces.
About 300 families from those towns are also being given safe passage.
Also on Monday, at least 14 people had been killed and 90 wounded in two suicide bombings in the central city of Homs.
Reports said the blasts had hit the Zahraa neighbourhood of the city. It is predominantly inhabited by members of the Alawite sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
Under siege
Zabadani has been under siege from pro-government forces backed by the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah.However, the two towns of Kefraya and Fuaa, in the northern province of Idlib, have been under siege from Sunni rebels.
The families from Kefraya and Fuaa are being taken to Turkey from where they will go to Lebanon.
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said the Lebanese Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the UN were all involved in the operation.
Monday's evacuations are the latest in a series of similar moves:
- 26 December - An attempt to evacuate rebels, including some from the so-called Islamic State group, from the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk outside Damascus collapses shortly before it was due to start
- 9 December - Rebels leave Homs' Al-Wair district, the last one under their control
- May 2014 - Hundreds of rebels leave Homs after months of government siege, under a deal brokered by Iran and facilitated by the UN
Localised ceasefires were at one point were proposed as one of the few ways out of the bloodshed and stalemate.
However, they have failed to build any real momentum, correspondents say.
