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DAMASCUS, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The first batch of the Failaq al-Rahman rebels and their families evacuated the capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta area on Saturday evening, state TV reported.
Some 17 buses transporting 981 rebels and their families evacuated areas in Eastern Ghouta through a crossing point on the outskirts of the town of Arbeen in Eastern Ghouta.
The convoy headed toward rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib, under a recently-reached deal with the Syrian government under the Russian mediation.
Ahead of the rebels' evacuation, a total of eight people kidnapped by the rebels in Eastern Ghouta were released, as part of the deal that was reached a day earlier.
