DAMASCUS, March 28 (Xinhua) -- A total of 128,000 civilians have so far left rebel-held areas in the Syrian capital Damascus' Eastern Ghouta through humanitarian corridors, state news agency SANA reported on Wednesday.
Citing a military source, SANA said the Syrian army secured the evacuation of this large number of civilians, adding that the operation is ongoing.
The latest batch of civilians left Eastern Ghouta on Tuesday, with 500 civilians reaching government-controlled positions in the Wafidin area northeast of Damascus before they were taken to shelters nearby.
The civilian evacuation, which has started on March 14, was made possible after the Syrian army advanced in Eastern Ghouta and captured 90 percent of that area from an array of rebel groups, which have been entrenched in that key area since 2012.
Also, thousands of rebels and their families are leaving Eastern Ghouta toward rebel-held areas in Idlib province.
Local reports suggest that the Syrian government will return the displaced people to their homes in Eastern Ghouta after the situation there settles, with the fact that civilians in many areas in Eastern Ghouta remained in their homes when the army entered.
