New deal reached between Syrian gov't and Islam Army

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An agreement has been reached between Syrian government forces and Islam Army rebels on Sunday to settle the situation in the Douma district of Damascus' Eastern Ghouta, according to SANA, Syria's official news agency.

The priority of the new deal is the evacuation of hostages held by Islam Army militants in Douma, the last rebel stronghold in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus.

And the rebel group will evacuate Douma toward the rebel-held city of Jarablus in Aleppo province in northern Syria near the Turkish border.

Pro Syrian government forces are seen as they advance towards the town of Douma, the last opposition holdout in Eastern Ghouta, on April 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

Negotiations between Islam Army militants and the Syrian government were renewed on Sunday about the situation in Douma after the militants asked to launch new negotiations with the government after they backed down on a previous deal that technically contained the same details

State TV said the Islam Army rebels, who have been in Douma since 2012, negotiated with the Syrian government after two days of a wide-scale military offensive on Douma which followed the failure of the first agreement.

Islam Army rebels backed down on the previous agreement with the Russians and the Syrian side for their evacuation from that district, as well as declining to release thousands of hostages.

The militants also launched mortar attacks on several residential areas inside Damascus.

A day earlier, the Syrian army stormed the frontlines of the Islam Army in Douma from farmlands east of that area amid a state of collapse in the militant group, according to state news agency SANA.

Douma was supposed to be like other areas in Eastern Ghouta, where 43,000 rebels and their families withdrew toward rebel-held areas in northern Syria following a deal with the government.

Three batches of the Islam Army and their families withdrew from Douma recently, but as the fourth batch was preparing to leave, the agreement collapsed.

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