A Syrian soldier holds a rifle in the town of Mughor al-Mir, one of the three towns as the last strongholds of rebels, largely those affiliated with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, in the Western Ghouta countryside of Damascus, capital of Syria, on Dec. 29, 2017. Hundreds of rebels and their families started evacuating their last strongholds in the southwestern countryside of Damascus on Friday to rebel-held areas in northern and southern Syria, local sources said. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)