ISIS Abducts Hundreds of Cement Workers Near Damascus
Militants fighting with the Islamic State group kidnapped nearly 300 cement workers and contractors in an area northeast of Damascus, Syrian state television reported on Thursday, Reuters reports.
The abduction of workers from the al-Badia cement company took place in Dumeir, a city on the outskirts of the capital where ISIS launched an assault against government forces earlier this week.
Heavy ground battles between pro-government forces and ISIS militants took place on Tuesday near Dumeir and the Dumeir military airport.
ISIS reportedly took over large parts of the city from rebel groups, firing upon civilians who protested against their presence. Hundreds of families have reportedly fled the area.
Peace Talks to Address Political Transition
The main focus of next week’s resumed peace talks in Geneva will be political transition, according to United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura.
The U.N. envoy told reporters on Thursday he had pushed back the new round of talks so that he could verify the position of regional and international parties to the conflict on a political transition, Reuters reports.
“The next round of the talks needs to be quite concrete in the direction of a political process leading to a real beginning of a political transition,” said de Mistura. “Since this is real stuff, I need to verify the international and regional stakeholders’ position in order to [assess] the level of a critical positive mass leading to concrete results in the next round of talks.”
While a start date has not been set in stone, staggered arrivals are expected to begin early next week, with serious meetings to begin on April 13.
The envoy is set to meet with delegations from Damascus and Tehran, followed by meetings with Turkish, Saudi, Lebanese and Jordanian officials to gauge the level of agreement on the political process going forward.
The Syrian government will hold parliamentary elections on April 13, and the government delegation most likely will not arrive in Geneva until April 14 or 15.
‘Catalog of Horror’ Continues in Besieged Areas: MSF
The cessation of hostilities has done little to improve the humanitarian situation in besieged areas across Syria, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres – MSF) said Thursday.
“The catalog of horror continues virtually unabated in many besieged areas,” said Dr. Bart Janssens, MSF’s director of operations.
“Over the past two weeks in the besieged areas in Damascus region, a doctor has been shot dead by a sniper, two of the field hospitals we support have been bombed, besieged neighborhoods continue to be shelled and medical aid is still blocked or restricted.”
Last week the only remaining medical doctor in the government-besieged town of Zabadani was shot and killed by a sniper after treating a patient.
Over the past week, the government has bombed two MSF field hospitals, a school and residential buildings, according to the global humanitarian organization.
In the past month, the government has reportedly shelled multiple MSF-supported medical facilities in besieged areas of Damascus, including al-Marj, Deir al-Safir and Zebdine.
Surgical equipment, anesthetic supplies and other lifesaving items have gone missing from international aid convoys destined for besieged areas, according to MSF, and despite long lists, the government has approved very few requested medical evacuations.
Recommended Reads
- The Huffington Post: Home Sweet Home: Syria Is Not Just a Place to Flee
- Bloomberg: U.S., Russia Said to Team up to Draft New Syria Constitution
- Al-Arabiya: How Psychology Can Help End a War, Even Syria’s
- The Nation: Hopes of Coexistence in Syria
- TIME Lightbox: Inside War-Ravaged Syria
- International Institute for Strategic Studies: Nick Crawford: Fears of Federalism in Syria
- The New Yorker: The Swimmer Who Fled Syria
- The Guardian: My Arab Spring: ‘I Envisioned a New Syria, But it Never Materialised’
Top image: Anti-Syrian regime protesters gather at a square as they hold an Arabic banner, center, reading, “Hey, the miserable, the tyrant, what else,” during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. Dozens of people have died in the past year from starvation or illness related to malnutrition in besieged areas across Syria. The killing of Dr. Mohammed Khous, who treated wounded demonstrators, drew attention to the continuing severity of conditions in Syria’s besieged areas. (AP Photo)