Beirut, Oct 14 (AFP) A convoy will leave Syria's Raqatoday under an evacuation deal, the US-led coalition said, asa US-backed force battles to seize the Islamic State group'slast positions there.
The coalition said the deal reached by local officialsaimed to avoid civilian casualties and would exclude foreignIS fighters, but made no mention of whether Syrian jihadistswould be able to leave.
"The arrangement is designed to minimise civiliancasualties and purportedly excludes foreign Daesh terroristsas people trapped in the city continue to flee the impendingfall of Daesh's so-called capital," the coalition said, usingthe Arabic acronym for IS.
"People departing Raqa under the arrangement are subjectto search and screening by Syrian Democratic Forces," itadded.
The SDF is the US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arabfighters that has driven IS from around 90 per cent of Raqasince June.
In recent days, talks have been underway on a deal toprotect civilians still trapped in the city, and the coalitionsaid the agreement would "save innocent lives and allow SyrianDemocratic Forces and the Coalition to focus on defeatingDaesh".
The announcement comes after the coalition said earliertoday that around 100 IS fighters had surrendered in the cityin the last 24 hours.
An SDF military source also earlier told AFP that busesand trucks were waiting outside Raqa to take the surrenderedfighters further east to Deir Ezzor province, much of whichremains under IS control. (AFP)EMY.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.