Takfiri Jaish al-Islam militants return Qalamoun town to Syrian government

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency (SANA), shows Russian soldiers and Syrian government forces overseeing the evacuation of militants from the so-called Jaish al-Islam terrorist group and their families from the town of Dumayr, northeast of Damascus, Syria, April 19, 2018.

Syrian forces have established full control over a town northeast of the capital, Damascus, after the militants controlling the area agreed to hand it back to the government.

On Thursday, the so-called Jaish al-Islam militants and their families evacuated Dumayr in the Qalamoun region after surrendering their weapons as part of an evacuation agreement with the Syrian government.

Waving the national flag, residents of Dumayr welcomed government forces into their town after the last of 5,000 militants and their family members boarded buses and left the town for the militant-held city of Jarablus.

The deal also addresses the status of those militants who want to lay down arms and stay in the town.

Syria’s official SANA news agency also reported that security forces have entered the town and raised the Syrian flag over the municipality building.

Syrian government forces enter the liberated town of al-Dumayr as militants leave, April 20, 2018.

Army units are now ready for clean-up operations to get rid of the landmines planted by the militants across the town.

The withdrawal of Jaish al-Islam militants and their families followed that of their fellows earlier this month from the town of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus.

Dumayr is a short drive away from Douma, the last East Ghouta town the government managed to recapture from the militant groups.

Militant jail uncovered in Douma

A similar mop-up operation is underway in Douma, where government forces have discovered a prison facility formerly run by the Jaish al-Islam militants when they were in control of the town.

Footage filmed from inside Douma showed the so-called al-Tawba prison, which fortified with high barracks and linked with a number of underground tunnels.

Jaish al-Islam reportedly used the facility as the headquarters for its leaders and a place for interrogation and torture. Iron cages were also found inside the jail.

Elsewhere, the Syrian army is gearing up for a military operation against Takfiri Daesh and al-Nusra Front terrorists in the southern districts of the capital, including Yarmouk.

On Thursday, the Syrian army gave the terrorists a 48-hour ultimatum to leave those areas or face a military offensive.