The Syrian government and rebel forces have begun an operation to move people away from four besieged towns, activists say, the BBC reports.

People from Foah and Kefraya, two government-held towns in the north-west, have arrived in Rashideen, west of Aleppo, AFP news agency reports.

Similar operations have begun in rebel-held Madaya and Zabadani, near Damascus.

More than 30,000 people are expected to be evacuated under the deal.

Some 4.7 million people live in hard-to-reach and besieged areas in Syria, including 644,000 in UN-declared besieged locations.