Vicious Cycle: Rebels 'Cross to Turkey, Rearm, Come Back to Syria'

Militants, who are trying to overthrow Syria's legitimate government, have used local ceasefire agreements to receive medical treatment outside the war-torn country and then return to the battlefield, political analyst Ryan Dawson warned.

"They went across the border [to] Turkey, rearmed, came back to Syria and started fighting again," he told PressTV.

Earlier this week, more than 460 Syrian rebels and civilians were evacuated to receive medical assistance in neighboring countries under a local ceasefire deal brokered by the UN.

On Monday, the United Nations, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross transported at least 120 rebels and civilians from the Syrian towns of Zabadani and Madaya to Lebanon. In addition, more than 330 people from the towns of Foua and Kafrayawere were taken to Turkey.

Earlier reports suggested that the UN was ready to evacuate rebels, including Daesh members, from the refugee camp in late December but the planned evacuation did not take place.

Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus

© Sputnik / Dmitriy Vinogradov

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The Syrian conflict has been raging since March 2011, claiming the lives of more than 250,000 people. Several coalitions have declared their intent to fight terrorist groups fighting in the Arab country, but many doubt that the US counterterrorism efforts, launched in September 2014, are bringing a positive change to the region.

"The US is not interested in [ending the Syrian war]. They are interested in prolonging the conflict on purpose and it is intentional," Dawson asserted. He also accused the West of "supporting [the] ethnic cleansing of Kurds, they are supporting [the] ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and they have been indirectly financing [Daesh]."