Syrian government seizes last rebel enclave in northern Homs

BEIRUT – Syrian state media says government troops have full control of the last rebel enclave in Syria's largest province following the evacuation of thousands of armed men and civilians.

A Syrian security officer tells Al-Ikhbariya TV on Tuesday from the northern countryside of Homs province that police began deploying in the area, restoring government control. The unnamed officer told the station "we have chased terrorism out of Homs province."

Rebels were in control of northern rural Homs for years. Earlier this month, they agreed to surrender the enclave to the government, amid a string of rebel capitulations elsewhere.

Since then, more than 27,000 civilians and armed men evacuated the area to rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

A group of U.S-backed rebels have a base in southern Homs near the border with Iraq.