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The evacuation of the militants from the Rastan pocket in the northern Homs countryside to Idlib governorate and the Turkish-held Jarabulus city has been re-scheduled from May 5 to May 8 for unknown reasons, several Syrian opposition sources reported on May 4.
Earlier, many Syrian pro-government activist said that the evacuation process will be delayed because many radical militants in northern Homs had stated that they are against the reconciliation agreement that was reached on May 2. Another reason of the delay could be that the Damascus government is currently busy with the evacuation of the militants from southern Damascus.
Meanwhile, the Hezbollah media wing in Syria confirmed that the militants in northern Homs had handed over their heavy weapons to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA). The SAA reportedly recovered three BMP-1 vehicles, two battle tanks, a Shilka vehicle and an artillery piece on May 3 and 4.
On May 2, the Russian Military Police removed the barriers from the Hama-Aleppo highway in northern Homs and deployed several units near the towns of al-Rastan and Talbiseh in the framework of the reached reconciliation agreement.
The delay of the evacuation process could trigger more tensions between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the radical militants in northern Homs, according to observers, who believe that the reconciliation agreement is still vulnerable.
