Militants Agree to Leave Their Last Stronghold North of Syria's Homs - Reports

According to a deal reached between the Syrian government and leaders of radical armed groups, the militants will hand over their weapons to the Syrian Army in 48 hours and turn over control of the territory to government forces, local media reported.

The Syrian government with the support of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Syrian reconciliation has managed to negotiate with the leaders of radical militant groups the pull out their forces from the north of Homs province and south of Hama, Syria's SANA outlet reported.

The militants also promised to provide maps of the minefields int he area, according to the media agency.

Earlier, the media network reported that the Syrian military command had decided to move an elite army formation from Damascus to Homs province before the start of a major offensive against militants.

A month before, a Syrian government minister had told Reuters that the Syrian Army and allied forces would seek to liberate militant-held areas in the province of Homs, north of the provincial capital.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Syrian reconciliation said on Tuesday that over 450 civilians have returned home in the Syrian provinces over the past 24 hours, noting that despite a ceasefire regime throughout Syria, the Russian-Turkish-Iranian coordination center had registered several cases of truce violations in Idlib, Latakia, and Daraa provinces within the last 24 hours.