DAMASCUS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- As many as 2,000 people, including 150 Islamic State (IS) militants, left the IS last stronghold in eastern Syria on Wednesday, a war monitor reported.
The vast majority of people who left the outskirts of the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir al-Zour province are families of the IS fighters, including foreign nationals, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A total of 200 people remained in the farmlands of Baghouz and they are expected to leave on Thursday, said the Britain-based watchdog group.
The evacuation of the IS militants and their families came as part of an undeclared deal between the IS and the U.S.-led coalition, the Observatory said.
It added that the evacuees were transported by the coalition's buses and their destination is still unknown amid reports that the IS militants wanted a safe passage to the Iraqi desert region, which is close to Deir al-Zour.
The U.S.-led coalition has been backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in their push to eliminate the IS from the eastern Euphrates River region since last September.
Over 35,000 people and the IS militants left the eastern Euphrates to areas controlled by the IS since December last year.
The IS remained in their last stronghold in the farmlands of the town of Baghouz before reaching the deal with the coalition, which carried out countless airstrikes to root out the IS from that part of the country.
