ENDGAME? Evacuation deal completed as Syrian rebels leave Damascus district.

State TV quoted the Damascus provincial governor as saying that Qaboun “is empty of militants”. It said army engineering teams had entered the district, on the city’s northeastern edge, to begin clearing it of mines and unexploded ordnance.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 1,300 rebel fighters and their families had left on Monday, headed for areas further east of Damascus or to the northwestern province of Idlib.

On Sunday, more than 2,000 rebels and their family members left Qaboun, state media said.

State TV said several hundred fighters had decided to stay in the district under the agreement as government forces took control.

The Damascus government has concluded a number of similar evacuation deals in recent months with the Syrian opposition, supported in some cases by Syria ally Iran and rebel backer Qatar.

That Iran is willing to back some of these deals helps show just how much supporting the Assad regime has cost Tehran.