Syrian rebels have begun evacuating the last district they hold in the city of Homs under a ceasefire deal with the government, a monitoring group has said.

Homs, in central Syria, was once dubbed the "capital of the revolution" and was the scene of some of the first protests against President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

Under the UN-backed deal, the entire city will return to government control.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said as a result three buses carrying around 150 civilians had left the district and more were to follow.

Some 2,000 rebels and their families will leave the besieged Waer district of Homs city.

Mr Rahman said about 750 people, including civilians, were awaiting evacuation to the northwestern province of Idlib.

Idlib province is held by the Army of Conquest rebel alliance, which includes Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front, which could send some of its forces to escort the buses.

In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria Syrian army forces stand on a street at the entrance of Hamidiya market in the old city of Homs In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria Hundreds of exhausted Syrian rebels withdrew from their last remaining strongholds in the heart of Homs, surrendering to President Bashar Assad a bloodstained city that was once the center of the revolt against him In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria Rebel fighters wait to be evacuated from the Old City of Homs In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria Rebel fighters queue as they wait to be evacuated from the Old City of Homs. After holding the Old City of Homs for nearly two years, around 1,200 rebel fighters and trapped civilians boarded buses which took them out of the "capital of the revolution" in convoys In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria Syrian army forces stand on a street at the Old Clock Square in the old city of Homs. The last Syrian rebels in the besieged Old City of Homs were preparing to leave, on the second day of an evacuation deal reached with the government of President Bashar al-Assad In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria A general view for the destruction in the old city of Homs. Syria's third-largest city, has a strategic position linking the country's main north-south axis with the route to the government's strongholds on the Mediterranean coast In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria The last rebels were poised to leave the centre of the battleground Syrian city of Homs, handing a symbolic victory to President Bashar al-Assad ahead of a controversial election In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria Syrian government forces look at damages in the old city of Homs In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria Debris lie on a deserted street in the old city of Homs after Syrian government forces regained control of rebel-controlled areas In pictures: Homs left in tatters as rebels quit city Syria A last group of Syrian rebels is on the way to leave the Old City of Homs, completing a negotiated pullout from the heart of the city, provincial governor Talal al-Barazi said