The Syrian government announced Friday it will take part in a second round of peace talks in Geneva next week, as a first batch of civilians prepared to leave besieged rebel-held areas in a battleground Syrian city under an evacuation deal struck with the United Nations.

The Syrian opposition has also said it will take part in the second round of talks. The first was adjourned with no signs of progress on Jan. 31.

The negotiations aim to broker a political solution to Syria’s civil war. The nearly three-year conflict has killed more than 130,000 people, forced more than 2.3 million to seek refuge abroad, and sent sectarian tensions soaring across the region.

State TV quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad as saying that the government delegation will head to the talks scheduled to resume on Monday in Geneva.

Also Friday, the governor of the central Syrian province of Homs said the evacuation of civilians from besieged rebel-held neighborhoods in the provincial capital is expected to begin “within hours.”