Six Red Cross Members Kidnapped in Syria

Six aid workers and a member of the Syrian Red Crescent had been kidnapped by gunmen in Syria, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

ICRC spokesman Ewan Watson said on Sunday “Six ICRC staff members and one member of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent have been abducted in Idlib in northwestern Syria.”

He dded “We don’t know who took them. It was unidentified armed men.”

Al Jazeera.net reported the road on which the members were travelling is notorious for kidnappings and that activists said there are a number of armed groups in the area.

In a Statement issued Sunday, head of the ICRC’s delegation in Syria, Magne Barth, has called for the immediate release of the members, Al Jazeera.net said.

“Both the ICRC and the SARC work tirelessly to provide impartial humanitarian assistance for those most in need across Syria on both sides of the front lines, and incidents such as these potentially undermine our capacity to assist those who need us most,” Barth said.

Reports said the team traveled to Idlib on October 10 to assess the medical situation in the area and deliver supplies to Sarmin and Idlib City. Their convoy, on its way to Damascus, was clearly marked with the ICRC emblem.

Kidnapping has become an increasing problem in the country, with journalists and aid workers being frequently targeted in rebel-held areas of the country, largely located in the north, Al Jazeera.net said.

In September, a German aid worker who was held for almost four months escaped his kidnappers in Idlib, just like his two colleagues who managed to flee in July, according to their aid group Gruenhelme, Al Jazeera.net report added.

Large parts of Syria province are under the control of groups who are fighting to oust Assad’s regime in a conflict that has killed more than 115,000 people in two and a half years, Al Jazeera.net said.

Meanwhile, in other violence on Sunday, two cars laden with explosives and driven by suicide bombers blew up near the state broadcaster’s headquarters at night in central Damascus, state media said.

A reporter for government television made no mention of any casualties, saying however, that “there were some human remains at the scene, likely those of a suicide bomber.” Al Jazeera.net report said.

State news agency SANA quoted one source as estimating about 100 kg of explosives in one of the cars.

Reports added rebels hold a number of suburbs in the outskirts of Damascus and have managed to carry out mortar and rocket attacks into central areas of the capital in recent months, although major attacks in the city center are still relatively rare.

A car bomb killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens more last month when it exploded in Rankus, a town 30 km north of Damascus, Al Jazeera.net reported.

Source: Al Jazeera.net