President Bashar Assad is gaining the upper hand in the three-year civil war in Syria.

Rebels in Homs, which was one of the first cities to rise up against his rule three years ago earning it the nickname of the “capital of the revolution” agreed to a ceasefire on Friday in order to allow hundreds of rebels pinned in the city a chance to evacuate.

The Assad regime had blockaded and heavily pounded the city, causing widespread hunger and suffering and hundreds of fighters are said to have surrendered.