Some fighting continued around Douma, the largest town in Eastern Ghouta and stronghold of the Army of Islam group, according to the military’s victory statement late Saturday. The fighters and their families will be evacuated to Jarablus in Aleppo province, the official Sana news agency reported. The deal was reached between the Islamist group and Russian military forces backing Assad, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The Syrian army statement said the fall of Eastern Ghouta will restore security in Damascus and to roads connecting it to central, northern and eastern Syria.
The government now controls all of Syria’s major urban centers and about 60 percent of its territory, according to SOHR. Once Army of Islam leaves Ghouta, the opposition would be left with most of Idlib, Daraa in southwest Syria and parts of the northern suburbs of Homs.
Ghouta, which has been under siege for more than five years, captured world attention in August 2013 when an estimated 1,400 people died in a notorious chemical attack that changed the course of the war by making Russia a major player.
