CHRIS UHLMANN: Syrian rebels are evacuating from the old city of Homs - the latest in a string of victories for president Bashar Al-Assad.

The city has been a stronghold for opposition forces since the civil war began three years ago. At one point it was even dubbed the capital of the revolution. But all that has changed. Hundreds of rebel fighters have admitted defeat in the old city, agreeing to leave after a deal was brokered by the United Nations.

Middle East correspondent Hayden Cooper reports.

HAYDEN COOPER: The video footage of the evacuation tells a story of bitter defeat. One by one, rebel fighters and their families board two green buses. The windows are covered. Slowly, they drive out of the old city of Homs.

On the amateur video, a voice is heard saying, "God is great," the arrival of the first group from the besieged Homs to the town of al-Dar al-Kabira.

This is not a total surrender by rebels. They're still holding out in other parts of Homs. But in the old city, they've been under siege, lacking supplies and starving.

When a UN ceasefire allowed civilians to flee earlier this year many fighters tried to join them. The deal brokered since has allowed them to finally do so.

To secure their evacuation the rebels agreed to ease their attacks on two Shiite districts further north near Aleppo. There the fighting is more even.

(Sounds from video)

Through amateur video posted online, rebel groups have been boasting of their latest attack - an enormous explosion that killed 30 people at a Syrian army checkpoint.

(Sound of man shouting)

The bomb was planted in a tunnel dug underneath the military forces.

Yet more footage from the region shows rebels using a tank to attack an army barracks.

(Sounds from video)

But in Homs the evacuation of up to 1200 rebels provides a more accurate picture of this war. This city was once considered the centre of the fight against president Bashar al-Assad. Now it's the latest opposition bastion to fall.

As the buses left the city, president Assad was all smiles. His office released footage of him and his wife Asma meeting orphans of the Syrian war.

(Music and cheering)

It is after all an election campaign. In less than a month, he's likely win another term as Syria's president despite the deaths of 150,000 of his people.

This is Hayden Cooper reporting for AM.