ISIS-affiliated militants captured more than 300 workers and contractors at a cement factory in Syria, state news reported Thursday. Al-Badiyeh Cement Co. said the militants were holding the workers and contractors from the plant near Damascus, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, citing a source in Syria’s Ministry of Industry. The company had not been in contact with staff as of late Thursday afternoon.
Local official Nadim Kreizan told SANA that witnesses saw about 125 “abducted workers” being put on buses headed toward areas more firmly under ISIS control. Ramdi Abdulrahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told CNN he believes 150 to 250 factory employees were missing. The observatory later said that at least 140 employees of the factory were able to escape during the attack, while no less than 170 were captured. FULL REPORT
