Syrian Forces Free All Daesh Hostages in Sweida: Report

TEHRAN (defapress) – Syrian government forces managed to set free all the remaining women and children, who had been abducted by the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) Takfiri terrorist group in the country’s southern province of Sweida in July.

News ID: 73585

Date: 09 November 2018 - 14:11

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that army troops had carried out a "precise and heroic" operation in Hamimah area northeast of the ancient oasis city of Palmyra, situated 215 kilometers northeast of capital Damascus, on Thursday, engaging in a fierce battle with Daesh extremists.

The report added that Syrian soldiers killed all Daesh members, and set free the women and children.

They had been held by Daesh since July 25, when the terror group stormed the Druze-majority city of Suwayda and its surrounding villages, setting off car bombs and murdering civilians in their homes, according to Press TV.

More than 250 people were killed — 60 of them in the village of al-Shabki alone. A number of women and children were seized from the village.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 30 people were taken hostage at the time, and that three of them died while in captivity.

On the day of kidnapping, all hostages reportedly had to walk for 12 hours to reach militant hideouts inside caves of Tulul al-Safa hills, which lie northeast of the remote Jabal al-Arab volcanic plateau in the eastern countryside of Suwayda province.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

Message end/