Iraq News
Terrorism

ISIS uses Sweida hostages as bargaining chip

By Waleed Abu al-Khair in Cairo and AFP

Sweida residents attend the mass burial of the victims of the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' attack on the region on July 25th. [Photo courtesy of Nizar Abu Ali]

Sweida residents attend the mass burial of the victims of the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' attack on the region on July 25th. [Photo courtesy of Nizar Abu Ali]

Dozens of "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) fighters were cornered in a pocket of Syria's Daraa on Tuesday (July 31st) after losing all other territory there to a Russian-backed regime assault, AFP reported.

To get themselves out, ISIS was using the release of 30 Druze women and children it kidnapped last week as a bargaining chip, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"There have been talks since yesterday between regime forces and ISIS to evacuate around 100 ISIS fighters and their families from the southwest part of Daraa to the Badiya," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

The Badiya refers to the vast desert stretching from central Syria to the eastern border with Iraq, and where ISIS still holds territory.

One of the women kidnapped by the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' during its attack on Sweida was shown in a video relaying the group's demands to the Syrian regime. [Photo courtesy of Nizar Abu Ali]

One of the women kidnapped by the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' during its attack on Sweida was shown in a video relaying the group's demands to the Syrian regime. [Photo courtesy of Nizar Abu Ali]

"In exchange, ISIS would release 30 hostages it took from Sweida last week," said Abdel Rahman.

"To put pressure on ISIS, Russian warplanes carried out strikes on the area today," he added.

ISIS abducted the Druze women and children from a remote village in Sweida, a province directly east of Daraa, during a deadly rampage on July 25th that left more than 250 people dead in the minority-populated area.

Female hostage appears in video

ISIS has been contacting the families of the hostages, who hail from the town of al-Shabaki in rural Suweida province, Sweida resident and political activist Nizar Abu Ali told Diyaruna.

The group sent some of the families photos of the hostages and a "video clip listing its demands", he said.

A 22-second long video clip published by local media outlets shows one of the female hostages saying she is detained by ISIS, he said.

The woman said ISIS is demanding a halt in the operations against the Yarmouk basin, the ISIS-held part of Daraa, and the release of ISIS elements from Syrian jails, Abu Ali said.

The female hostage appeared in the video dressed in white alongside a number of women and at least one child.

The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified, but several Sweida residents confirmed the woman was an al-Shabaki resident and among those who went missing after the attacks.

The situation in Sweida is "very tense", Abu Ali said, as local armed militiamen are present in the streets in large numbers and have been checking the identification documents "of all passersby without exception".

The lack of co-ordination and increased suspicion between these militias over the past few days have led to armed clashes that left four people dead and a number of others wounded, he said.

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