IS abducts dozens of workers near Damascus; fighting worsens

BEIRUT -- In a brazen assault near the Syrian capital, Islamic State militants abducted 300 cement workers and contractors Thursday from their workplace northeast of Damascus 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 Islamic 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 Wednesday, 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 a partial cease-fire largely has 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 Co. 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.

At the factory headquarters in Damascus, a spokeswoman declined to discuss the kidnapped workers' fate, saying authorities had told the company to refrain from commenting on the abduction. "The situation is not easy at all," she said.

There was no formal responsibility claim for the kidnapping, but the IS-linked Aamaq 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 in an email Islamic militants attacked five targets in the town, including other insurgents' positions near the airport. They also seized control of the factory, kidnapping hundreds of its workers.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syria conflict, said earlier Thursday contact had been lost with dozens of workers in Dumeir.

Mass abductions have taken place on occasion in Syria during the country's devastating civil war, now in its sixth year, most often targeting religious minorities or Syrian soldiers.

The abduction came as fighting raged in northern Syria, where Syrian opposition fighters made quick advances on strongholds of the Islamic State group, including al-Rai along the border with Turkey.

Opposition activists and a rebel group said the Free Syrian Army factions took over al-Rai, in northern Aleppo province, potentially severing one of the extremist group's most important crossings with Turkey.

FSA Division 99 said on its Facebook page its fighters and other groups were deployed inside the town and had taken down the IS flag and were combing the town.