Syria's regime is close to cementing its control over the entire capital under local deals with the opposition, AFP reported Monday (May 15th).
Opposition fighters have evacuated some of the last Damascus districts under their control, with more than 2,000 civilians and opposition fighters evacuating the Qabun district on Sunday, after similar departures from the Barzeh and Tishrin neighbourhoods earlier last week.
"With the seizure of these three neighbourhoods, the regime now controls almost all the capital," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman.
In the east of Damascus, "the opposition now only hold a part of the Jobar district, most of which is destroyed", he said.
In the south, the Tadamun and Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhoods as well as the Yarmuk refugee camp are now mostly controlled by extremists, including the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), he said.
