Syria crisis: Evacuation operation in Homs begins

Footage from Syrian state TV appears to show the first evacuees leaving Homs Old City, as Jim Muir reports

Emergency officials have started to evacuate groups of civilians from the city of Homs in Syria, after both sides agreed to a temporary truce.

Two buses carrying vulnerable civilians have left the rebel-held Old City, which is surrounded by government forces.
Up to 3,000 civilians are thought to be trapped in Homs.
A UN-negotiated ceasefire between Syrian forces and rebels should also allow aid to reach Homs on Saturday.

The governor of Homs said 16 people had left the Old City by bus, shortly after an earlier group of 12 elderly men and women arrived safely at the governor's premises.
BBC Arabic's Assaf Abboud in Homs says the evacuated people were given meals and drinks and were taken for medical checks.
They told journalists that there are more people who are still trapped in the city and who want to be evacuated.

Syrian state TV reported that 35 civilians had been evacuated, "most of whom are children and elderly who had been used as human shields by terrorists".
Parts of Homs Old City have been under army siege since June 2012.
Many neighbourhoods lie in ruins and activists say people have survived on little more than olives for weeks.

The situation in besieged districts of Homs was discussed during peace talks in Geneva a week ago.
Another round of talks is scheduled to begin on 10 February and the Syrian government has confirmed it will attend.
'Ready for delivery' Earlier on Friday, a BBC reporter in Homs said six buses arrived with three UN vehicles and six Red Crescent ambulances to pick up women, children, and elderly people.

Homs governor Talal Barazi described the atmosphere as "positive" ahead of the planned evacuation, which had run slightly behind schedule because of logistical hitches.
"We hope this first step will succeed and will continue tomorrow and after tomorrow [Saturday], to ensure safe exit to all civilians who want to leave the Old City," he said.

Farhan Haq, spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said supplies were positioned on the outskirts of Homs "ready for immediate delivery as soon as the green light was given by the parties for safe passage".

Many families in Homs have lost everything in the fighting

 

Up to 3,000 civilians are thought to be trapped in the city

 

Homs has been a key battleground in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad

Aid staff were also on standby, he said.

The Syrian foreign ministry said that under the deal - reached between the governor of Homs and the UN resident co-ordinator in Syria - "innocent civilians" would be allowed out of besieged areas.
"We are very happy that finally we found the possibility to bring out these people and to provide those who are needy inside old Homs with humanitarian aid they deserve," Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said.

"The only precondition is that this aid and the help should not go to terrorists or armed groups."
US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki welcomed the agreement but said an evacuation was "not a substitute for the safe, regular and unfettered delivery of humanitarian assistance".

"We should not be giving credit to a regime just for providing food for a few days to people who are starving, given that's the right moral thing to do," she said.
"This is something they should have been doing all along."
Homs - Syria's third largest city - has been a key battleground in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Much of the city initially fell under rebel fighters' control, but government forces have since retaken many areas, forcing the opposition into the Old City.
The UN says more than 100,000 people have died since the uprising began.