Syrian rebels in Damascus' southern countryside began handing over their heavy weaponry to the government on Friday, before evacuating to northern Syria as part of a UN-mediated deal, sources said.

A total of 18 busses escorted by two UN vehicles and a Syrian security convoy entered the rebel-held district of al-Qadam in the southern countryside of the capital Damascus to take heavy weaponry from the militants before their evacuation, a well-informed source told Xinhua on Friday.

Handing the heavy weapons to the Syrian government is part of a deal concluded between the rebels and the Syrian army, after which the evacuation will start, most likely on Saturday, the source said.

More than 3,500 militants and their families, mostly with the Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, will be evacuated from al-Hajar al-Aswad and al-Qadam to rebel-held areas in northern Syria, namely to the IS' de facto capital al-Raqqa and the town of Mare in the countryside of the northern province of Aleppo, the source said, adding that preparations are still going on for the commencement of the evacuation process.

Some radicals have rejected to be reconciled with the government, while those who will stay in the districts will have to hand over their weapons and surrender themselves to the Syrian authorities to have their criminal records cleared.

As a goodwill sign, the rebels started removing sand barriers and opened roads between al-Hajar al-Aswad and al-Qadam to allow government busses to reach those areas as part of the preparations.

The source said the new deal is also under UN mediation. After the evacuation, a truce with undeclared conditions will be implemented next Monday in the rebel-held town of Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, and in two besieged Shiite towns, Kafraya and Foa, in the countryside of the northwestern province of Idlib.

Previously, the rebels wanted the Syrian authorities to halt a broad offensive on rebel-held Zabadani and Madaya towns, while the Iranians and the Syrian government wanted jihadi groups in Idlib to halt their attacks on Shiite towns which have been subject to repetitive attacks and suffocating siege.

In September, a six-month ceasefire went into effect simultaneously in Kafraya, Foa and Zabadani, west of Damascus near Lebanese borders.

It was planned that the ceasefire was to be followed by a 25-point agreement which is expected to implemented soon to settle the situation in the Shiite towns and Zabadani.

Local reports said in September that the 25-point agreement, which has been concluded between an Iranian delegation, representing the Syrian government, and the Jaish al-Fateh and Ahrar al-Sham rebels, will include halting battles in other areas, including towns adjacent to Zabadani, namely Madaya, Buqain, Surghaya and the surrounding military posts.

The agreement also included bringing an end to the confrontation in towns of Binnish, Taftanaz, Taum, Maret Misrin, and cities of Idlib, Ram Hamdan, Zardna, and Shallakh in Idlib province.

The agreement could see the total withdrawal of rebels and their families from Zabadani to their only destination Idlib, much of which has fallen to Jaish al-Fateh in recent months.

In return, the wounded, including women, children and men aged above 50, will be allowed to leave Kafraya and Foa, two of the very few government positions in Idlib.

An official with the Syrian Ministry of Reconciliation said Thursday that 2016 will witness an acceleration of national reconciliation in Syria, which will go in tandem with the achievements of the Syrian army.

Almost a quarter million people, including nearly 12,000 children, have been killed in Syria's conflict since it broke out in March 2011.

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