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THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Syrian civilians return to Homs, Syria on Friday where bulldozers cleared rubble from the streets of battle- scarred districts. ByAlbertAji The Associated Press HOMS, SYRIA Hundreds of Syrians, some snapping photographs with their cell phones, wandered down paths carved out of rubble in the old quarters of Homs on Friday, getting their first glimpse of the horrendous destruction that two years of fighting inflicted on rebel- held parts of the city. The scenes that greeted them were devastating: City blocks pounded into an apoc- alyptic vista of hollow fa- cades of blown-out buildings. Dust everywhere. Streets strewn with rebar, shat- tered concrete bricks, top- pled telephone poles and the occasional charred, crum- pled carcasses of cars. For more than a year, President Bashar Assad's troops blockaded these neighborhoods, pounding the rebel bastions with his artillery and air force. Un- der a deal struck this week, the government assumed control of the old quarters, while in return some 2,000 rebel fighters were granted safe passage to opposition areas north of Homs. The final piece of the agreement fell into place Fri- day afternoon as the last 300 or so rebels left Homs after an aid convoy was allowed into two pro-government vil- lages in northern Syria be- sieged by the opposition. The aid delivery was part of the Homs agreement. The withdrawal was a ma- jor victory for the govern- ment in a conflict that has killed more than 150,000 people since March 2011. The deal handed Assad control of the city once known as "the capital of the revolution," as well as a geographic linchpin in central Syria from which to launch offensives on rebel- held territory in the north. Even before the last rebels departed, government bull- dozers were clearing paths through the heaviest rubble in Homs' battle-scarred dis- tricts Friday. It marked the first time that government troops have entered these neighborhoods — the last rebel bastions in the city — in more than a year. Homs governor Talal Barazi said engineering units were combing Hamidi- yeh and other parts of the old quarters in search of mines and other explosives. State TV said two soldiers were killed while dismantling a bomb. Syriansreturnto damaged homes a er rebels leave MIDDLE EAST By Michelle Faul The Associated Press LAGOS, NIGERIA The in- ternational effort to res- cue the 276 schoolgirls be- ing held captive by Islamic extremists in northeastern Nigeria was boosted Fri- day when British security experts joined the Nigerian and American forces try- ing to rescue the missing students. As the worldwide effort got underway the weakness of the Nigerian military was exposed in a report issued by Amnesty International. Britain said its aim was not only to help with the current crisis but to defeat Boko Haram. "The team will be consid- ering not just the recent in- cidents but also longer-term counter-terrorism solutions to prevent such attacks in the future and defeat Boko Haram," the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said in a statement Friday. The American team was joined by six additional mil- itary officers and more are expected soon, said Penta- gon spokesman Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby. The U.S. officers will do a "gap analy- sis," an assessment to iden- tify what the Nigerian mil- itary needs that the U.S. could provide in the search for the girls, he said. Hostage negotiations is another area where the American team will assist, said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki. China, France and Spain have also promised help. Demonstrations in sup- port of the missing Nige- rian girls have been held around the world and a so- cial media campaign — dubbed #BringBackOur- Girls — continued to grow. The weakness of the Ni- gerian armed forces was highlighted Friday in a re- port which said the military did not respond to warn- ings that Boko Haram reb- els were about to attack Chibok, the town where the young women were ab- ducted from their school. Nigerian security forces had four hours of notice about the April 15 attack by the rebels but did not react because of their fear of engaging the extrem- ists, said Amnesty Inter- national, in a report citing multiple interviews with credible sources. "This abduction could have been prevented," Am- nesty spokeswoman Su- sanna Flood said of the Ni- gerian military's inaction. The mass kidnapping of the schoolgirls has focused the world's attention on Boko Haram and on the re- sponse of President Good- luck Jonathan's govern- ment. "I believe that the kidnap of these girls will be the be- ginning of the end of terror in Nigeria," said Jonathan at an economic forum on Thursday. Jonathan's government is accused of being slow to mount operations to res- cue the girls, who were kidnapped on April 15, charges the government ve- hemently denies. The mili- tary said in a strong state- ment late Thursday that it opposed what it said were the attempts of some civic groups to "drag the mili- tary into politics." Boko Haram has staged many attacks in northeast- ern Nigeria over the years, a campaign of bombings and massacres that has in- tensified in recent times de- spite a strong military pres- ence there. Since May 2013 there has been a state of emergency in three north- eastern Nigerian states wracked by Boko Haram violence. Boko Haram has killed more than 1,500 people this year. The militants, who want to impose Is- lamic Shariah law on Ni- geria, abducted more than 300 girls from a board- ing school in the north- eastern town of Chibok. Fifty-three escaped but 276 remain captive. In a video seen by The Associ- ated Press, Boko Haram's leader threatens to sell the girls into slavery. The government of Borno state, where Chibok is located, on Thursday identified the girls who es- caped, potentially subject- ing the girls to stigma in this conservative society. NIGERIA British, US experts join search for girls KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Demonstrators hold banners as they protest about the kidnapping of girls in Nigeria, near the Nigerian High Commission in London on Friday. Landscape/Fence Steve's Tractor &LandscapeService •FenceBuilding•Landscaping • Trenching • Rototilling • Disking • Mowing • Ridging • Post Hole Digging • Blade Work • Sprinkler Installation • Concrete Work Cont. 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