IS abducts hundreds from workplace near Damascus
LEBANON | BEIRUT — In a brazen assault near the Syrian capital, Islamic State militants abducted 300 cement workers and contractors from their workplace northeast of Damascus on Thursday, as fighting against the extremist group raged in the country’s north ahead of a new round of peace talks.
In a blow to the militants, however, rebel fighters wrested control of a northern border town, potentially undermining IS supply lines across the border with Turkey and endangering one of its most important strongholds in Aleppo province.
The U.N. special envoy for Syria, meanwhile, said the next round of peace talks in Geneva was expected to start next week, around April 13, and would focus on a political process he hopes will lead to a “concrete or real beginning of a political transition.”
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Staffan de Mistura said he was encouraged by the fact that a partial cease-fire has largely held since going into effect Feb. 27, despite a series of worrisome incidents that continue to happen on a daily basis.
State TV said Thursday’s mass abduction of workers from the al-Badia Cement Company took place in Dumeir, about 28 miles northeast of Damascus, where militants launched a surprise attack against government forces earlier this week. The state-run news agency SANA quoted a source in the company as saying there had been no success in efforts to establish contact with the workers.
There was no formal responsibility claim for the kidnapping, but the IS-linked Amaq News Agency posted a video showing the deserted cement factory, located near a military air base.
The video showed what appeared to be a Syrian soldier lying on the ground, apparently dead. One militant is seen driving a truck, towing away a fork lift.
Islam Alloush, a spokesman for the Army of Islam rebel group which has a strong presence in Dumeir, said his group had managed to secure some workers who got away, but the fate of the kidnapped workers was not known.