Syria’s Homs Evacuation Stalls, Governor Blames Rebels

Rebels Not Letting Civilians Reach Pick-up Spots

At the start of the evacuations there were an estimated 2,500 civilians inside Homs’ “Old City” neighborhood, but with 1,400 able to flee over the past week the stragglers appear to be stuck, and it isn’t clear if any more evacuations will take place.

According to the Homs provincial governor Talal Barazi, the rebels inside the neighborhood have stopped letting civilians flee, and are no longer letting anyone get to the pick-up spots inside the neighborhood.

The Red Crescent and UN have been shipping humanitarian aid into the city, and have been taking out as many people as their trucks can carry when they leave. They came under fire a few times but have mostly been able to get through.

The evacuation process has been riddled with problems, from the trucks being attacked to the Syrian military detaining every “fighting age male” that fled to vet them for possible rebel ties. Of around 400 detained only half have been released so far.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.