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On April 9, 3,627 Jaish al-Islam militants and their family members left the district of Douma in the Damascus surbrub of Eastern Ghouta, the Russian military said.

“Over the past day [April 9], 3,627 militants and members of their families were taken through the humanitarian corridor of the Myhayam al-Wafideen checkpoint. Those leaving were taken by 70 buses to the north of the Aleppo Governorate,” the military said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 161,207 people have left Eastern Ghouta since the start of humanitarian pauses introduced by Russian and Syrian forces.

On April 10, the Syrian state-run news agency SANA revealed that all hostages taken by Jaish al-Islam had been released from Douma on April 9 evening.

“SANA correspondent said that two buses carrying dozens of liberated abductees arrived in one of the Syrian Arab army checkpoints near al-Wafedeen Camp corridor at 11:00 pm, after which they headed for al-Faihaa stadium in Damascus where their relatives and thousands of citizens have been waiting to welcome them. The first batch of abductees, most of them were women and children who have been kidnapped from Adra Industrial City since January 2013, was released on Sunday after an agreement was reached earlier in the day to release all the abductees in exchange for the exit of all terrorists,” the SANA’s article reads.

The evacuation of militants and civilians from the area of Douma is ongoing amid the growing tensions over the “Douma chemical attack” story. Prior to accepting a withdrawal agreement on April 8, Jaish al-Islam-linked media outlets and the Douma branch of the so-called White Helmets accused the Syrian government of conducting a chemical attack in the area. The story broke to the mainstream media and caused a shitshtorm among the so-called “international community”.

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