BEIRUT/ANKARA ¨C Sick and injured civilians left a rebel enclave in Syria¡¯s eastern Ghouta on Tuesday under the first medical evacuation since one of the deadliest assaults of the seven-year war began nearly a month ago.
In another sign of success in the government¡¯s mission to retake all rebel-held territory near the capital, the army also evacuated hundreds of fighters and their families from a separate small rebel-held pocket south of Damascus.
In the north of the country, on another main front, Turkey¡¯s military said it had encircled the town of Afrin, a big advance in its offensive against Kurdish fighters. Government forces also pounded a rebel-held area in the south for a second straight day, potentially reopening yet another front.
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