Damascus, April 3 (IANS): A total of 40,000 civilians have returned home in the Syrian capital's Eastern Ghouta, where the Army nearly gained full control, state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The return of the civilians was ongoing as the Syrian Army recaptured all towns in Eastern Ghouta except for the last rebel stronghold of Douma district, the report said.

Around 150,000 civilians left Eastern Ghouta in March following a relentless offensive by government troops targeting the rebels. A day earlier, SANA reported that 12,000 children from Eastern Ghouta returned to schools in the government-run shelters.

As the last batch of rebels were moving to the rebel-held area in the northern city of Jarablus, the situation in Eastern  Ghouta was returning to normal, allowing people to return home.

Eastern Ghouta, a 105-square-km agricultural region consisting of several towns and farmlands, used to be occupied by several rebel groups, who posed the last threat to the capital by firing shells into Damascus' government-controlled neighbourhoods.