Evacuations begin, under deal for Shi'ite and Sunni towns in Syria - monitor

A rebel fighter stands near buses carrying people evacuated from the two villages of Kefraya and al-Foua, after an agreement reached between rebels and Syria's army, at insurgent-held al-Rashideen, Aleppo province, Syria April 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Buses evacuated thousands of people from two rebel-besieged Shi'ite villages in northwest Syria on Friday and hundreds of rebels left a town near Damascus with their families, under a deal between the government and insurgents.

A monitoring group said government forces later entered Madaya, the town where rebels had been holed up for nearly two years, taking back control of yet more territory around the capital Damascus as Syria's conflict enters its seventh year.