Druze women, children kidnapped by IS in Syria’s Sweida

The Islamic State group kidnapped dozens of Druze women and children when it attacked their village last week in Syria’s Sweida, residents of the southern province and a monitor says.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 36 Druze women and children were abducted, but that four women had since managed to escape while another two had died.

That leaves 14 women and 16 children in IS captivity, says Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Another 17 men were unaccounted for, but it was unclear if they were also kidnapped.

IS has not claimed the kidnappings and no details on them could be found on its propaganda channels.

According to news outlet Sweida24, the 36 civilians were kidnapped on Wednesday from the village of Al-Shabki, in the eastern hinterlands of Sweida province.

Sweida24 and other online outlets published a video that appeared to show one of the hostages making demands of the Syrian government, purportedly on IS’s behalf.

AFP could not independently verify its authenticity, but several Sweida residents confirmed that a woman appearing in the footage was among those missing after the attacks.

— AFP