(Zaman Al Wasl)- A Free Syrian Army unit operating in Eastern Qalamoun region took Friday a series of hilltops from the Islamic State fighters near the desert town of Dumeir, northeastern the capital, activists said.
The clashes are still underway between ISIS and 'Martyr Ahmed al-Abdo Forces' near al-Badia cement factory and Baghdad international road as Isis has stepping up attacks on both regime forces and moderate rebels in a desert area links to Palmyra and toIraqi and Jordanian borders.
On Friday, local mediators of Dumeir, 45 kilometers (30 miles) east of Damascus, reached an agreement for the release of some 300 cement workers kidnapped by the ISIS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, but it was unclear exactly how many were freed.
ISIS abducted the employees on Monday from al-Badia cement factory outside the town of Dumeir, according to AFP.
The Britain-based activist group said that in effect, some 170 workers would be freed as others had already managed to escape.
The Observatory could not specify how many had been released on Friday.
But a military source told AFP that he saw dozens of cement workers arrive on Friday evening at a nearby regime-held military airport.
The ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said in an online statement that it released about 300 of the workers, but that it would not free 20 men accused of belonging to a pro-government militia.
Dumeir is divided between ISIS control in the east and rebel control in the west, but several key positions around it, including the military air base and a power plant, remain in government hands.
On Friday, warplanes carried out fresh strikes around the Dumeir military airport, the Observatory said.
The clashes are still underway between ISIS and 'Martyr Ahmed al-Abdo Forces' near al-Badia cement factory and Baghdad international road as Isis has stepping up attacks on both regime forces and moderate rebels in a desert area links to Palmyra and toIraqi and Jordanian borders.
On Friday, local mediators of Dumeir, 45 kilometers (30 miles) east of Damascus, reached an agreement for the release of some 300 cement workers kidnapped by the ISIS, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, but it was unclear exactly how many were freed.
ISIS abducted the employees on Monday from al-Badia cement factory outside the town of Dumeir, according to AFP.
The Britain-based activist group said that in effect, some 170 workers would be freed as others had already managed to escape.
The Observatory could not specify how many had been released on Friday.
But a military source told AFP that he saw dozens of cement workers arrive on Friday evening at a nearby regime-held military airport.
The ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said in an online statement that it released about 300 of the workers, but that it would not free 20 men accused of belonging to a pro-government militia.
Dumeir is divided between ISIS control in the east and rebel control in the west, but several key positions around it, including the military air base and a power plant, remain in government hands.
On Friday, warplanes carried out fresh strikes around the Dumeir military airport, the Observatory said.
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