300 staffers of Syrian company abducted by Daesh: State TV
Takfiri Daesh militants in Syria have kidnapped 300 cement workers in an area northeast of Damascus, Syrian state television reports.
State TV quoted an industry ministry official as saying the workers and contractors of Al Badia Cement company had been taken from near the town of Dumeir and their employer had lost all contact with them.
Militants had launched attacks against government forces in Dumeir earlier this week. Fierce clashes have been reported over the past days as the Daesh terror group has tried to wrest control of an air base and power plant in the area.
An unidentified official in the cement factory told Syria’s SANA agency that efforts for establishing contact with the workers and contractors have failed since Monday.
“We haven't been able to reach our family members since noon on Monday after an attack by Daesh on the factory,” a resident of Dumeir said.
There were conflicting reports on the number of the staff abducted, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain which is affiliated to the foreign-backed opposition, saying “dozens” were kidnapped.
Meanwhile, a report by al-Mayadin, an Arabic-language TV based in neighboring Lebanon, said some 140 workers have managed to escape the captivity of Daesh in the Eastern Ghouta region of Damascus. It said others were still held hostage in a desert camp.
SANA said local officials have seen 125 of the company’s abducted workers being transported on board Daesh vehicles toward Tal Dakweh on the outskirts of Eastern Ghouta.
Nadim Kreizan, identified as a local official, said his committee had received 106 people who had escaped Daesh's hold on Wednesday.
Militant sources said the number could not exceed 200. Some other reports rejected reports that Daesh was behind the attack, saying a group called Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham had kidnapped the workers and contractors.
Daesh, which controls territories mostly in east and north of Syria, has been excluded from a ceasefire, which is currently in effect in the Arab country
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