The Islamic State (IS) group abducted at least 400 civilians, including women and children, after capturing new territory in an assault on Syria’s eastern city of Deir ez-Zor, a monitor said yesterday.
“After their attack on Deir Ezzor [on Saturday], IS abducted at least 400 civilians from the residents of the al-Baghaliyeh neighborhood it captured and adjacent areas in the northwest of the city,” the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Those abducted, all of whom are Sunnis, include women, children and family members of pro-regime fighters,” observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said, adding they were transported to other areas under IS control.
News of the abduction came amid reports that the militants had killed 300 people in a day-long attack on Deir ez-Zor on Saturday.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) yesterday said that most of those killed in the “appalling massacre” were elderly people, women and children.
If the SANA number is confirmed, it would be one of the highest tolls for a single day in Syria’s nearly five-year war.
Opposition activists have also confirmed at least some of the killings. The observatory late on Saturday said that at least 135 people were killed, including about 80 soldiers and pro-government militiamen. It added that many of them were shot dead or beheaded execution style.
The bloodshed in Deir ez-Zor came as regime forces battled the IS in the northern province of Aleppo, killing at least 16 militants and as air strikes hit the IS stronghold of Raqa.
The observatory said the IS had advanced into the northern tip of Deir ez-Zor and captured the northern suburb of al-Baghaliyeh.
Initially it reported that 35 Syrian soldiers and allied militiamen were killed in the multi-front attack, including a suicide bombing. However, as the day unfolded the death toll rose, with the monitoring group saying that civilians were among those killed in the city.
SANA quoted Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi as saying that the “legal and moral responsibility for this barbaric and cowardly massacre ... lies on the shoulders of all the states that support terrorism and that fund and arm takfiri [Sunni extremist]” groups.
According to the observatory, the advance put the IS in control of about 60 percent of Deir ez-Zor city, capital of the province of the same name in an oil-rich region bordering Iraq.
The IS said its fighters carried out several suicide bombings against the government’s forces in the city and seized control of al-Baghaliyeh and other areas.
In other developments, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Philip Hammond, in comments reported on Saturday, said about 600 Britons have been stopped from going to Syria to join the IS and other extremist groups.
Hammond said the interceptions, as well as airstrikes, were placing extra strain on the IS in its Raqqa headquarters.
“There is evidence [IS] is finding it difficult to recruit to the brigades in Raqqa because of the high attrition rate of foreign fighters,” he said, according to the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph newspapers.
Syria’s war has killed more than 260,000 people and forced millions to flee their homes.
Additional reporting by AP
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was