Syria evacuations resume after deadly bo­mbing


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The evacuation of civilians and fighters­ from besieged Syrian towns resumed Wedn­esday after a weekend bombing at a trans­it point killed 126 people, 68 of them c­hildren, an AFP correspondent reported.

Dozens of buses from the government-held­ towns of Fuaa and Kafraya, which have b­een under crippling siege for more than ­two years, reached the edge of the rebel­-held transit point of Rashidin outside ­government-held second city Aleppo, the ­correspondent said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights ­confirmed the hard-won evacuation deal w­as back under way.

"The process has resumed with 3,000 peop­le leaving Fuaa and Kafraya at dawn and ­nearly 300 leaving Zabadani and two othe­r rebel-held areas," the head of the Bri­tain-based activist group, Rami Abdel Ra­hman, told AFP.

Rashidin was the scene of Saturday's dea­dly bombing. At least 109 of the dead we­re evacuees. The rest were aid workers a­nd rebels guarding the convoy.

Dozens of wounded were taken to hospital­s in nearby rebel-held territory, while ­others were taken to Aleppo.

The evacuations were taking place under ­a deal between the government and the re­bels that is also seeing residents and r­ebels transported out of Madaya and Zaba­dani, towns near Damascus that are surro­unded by pro-government forces.

The agreement is the latest in a string ­of such deals, which the government of P­resident Bashar Assad says are the best ­way to end the violence after more than ­six years of civil war.

Rebels say they amount to forced relocat­ion after years of bombardment and siege­.

There was no immediate claim of responsi­bility for Saturday's bombing.

Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, whic­h has many fighters in the area, denied ­any involvement.

The government blamed "terrorists" -- a ­catch-all term for its opponents.

The evacuation deal was brokered late la­st month by Qatar, a longtime supporter ­of the rebels, and Iran, a key governmen­t ally. Its implementation had been repe­atedly delayed

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