Syria aid workers abducted en route to Sweida

Attacks on convoys threaten last lifeline for tens of thousands trapped in southern Syrian province

A convoy of UN vehicles carrying families from Sweida passes through the buffer zone in Busra Al Harir, in Syria. AFP

Five aid workers have been abducted in Syria while delivering supplies to the besieged province of Sweida this week, in what their colleagues told The National was an alarming development.

On Monday, seven of eight vehicles carrying privately donated aid from the Damascus suburb of Jaramana were ambushed and looted by unknown assailants. The attack prevented critical supplies from reaching Sweida, where residents face severe shortages of food, electricity and water.

“One of the eight cars in the convoy was able to escape after a large number of people on motorbikes surrounded them,” an aid worker in Jaramana who was co-ordinating with the convoy told The National. “Out of the eight vehicles, only one reached Sweida. The rest were looted and sent back.”

Three workers from Sweida who were also co-ordinating with the convoy confirmed the information.

Residents of Sweida say the besieged province is in a state of disaster following last month’s clashes between armed tribesmen, supported by government forces, and Druze fighters. A ceasefire and government-imposed lockdown declared on July 19 have left Sweida reliant on sporadic aid deliveries.

Sweida residents say that some pro-government tribal fighters, many of whom withdrew from the province following the ceasefire, remain stationed along key roads into the province, hindering the entry of goods.

Another aid volunteer said the convoy, had it arrived in the province, would have helped “around 2,000 to 4,000 households. There were also 250 doses of cancer medications, other medications, baby formula and diapers”.

All aid volunteers interviewed by The National spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation and aid access restrictions.

With about 192,000 people internally displaced in the province since the July clashes and relief trickling through the single crossing, private donors and international aid groups have mobilised to deliver convoys, which must be co-ordinated with Syrian authorities.

“They’d been sharing their live GPS location with us,” one of the relief volunteers in Sweida said of the missing aid workers. “After a while we realised they had stopped moving.”

There was gunfire. The cars were looted. And the men are still being held

Aid worker in Sweida

One abducted man, Aabed Abu Fakhr, managed to call a colleague, while another phoned his wife.

“From the calls it was clear they were being watched, but they reassured us they were all right,” said the Jaramana-based volunteer who was speaking to Mr Fakhr.

But the men have not been heard from since Tuesday despite efforts to secure their release.

The Jaramana City Endowment Committee, which organised Monday’s convoy, said it had obtained government approval for the delivery. The abducted men were identified as Samir Barakat, Aabed Abu Fakhr, Yamen Al Sahnawi, Radwan Al Sahnawi and Fidaa Azzam.

A video showing three of the five abducted men was uploaded to social media on Thursday evening. Yamen and Radwan Al Sahnawi, believed to be held elsewhere, did not appear in the footage. Also seen were two Druze men who activists said had been kidnapped from the Damascus suburb of Zablatani earlier this month and are apparently also being held for ransom.

In the video, the abducted men sit around a communal plate of mleaheyeh, a fermented yogurt dish commonly eaten by Syrian Bedouin, as a man behind the camera insists they are being treated as guests. “These men are are our family, not captives — but we want our [captured] men and women to be freed,” he says.

It was not clear when the footage was filmed.

The four aid workers familiar with the case said a Syrian General Security official – who had co-ordinated previous aid deliveries on behalf of the endowment – is now mediating between the kidnappers and the families.

“At first they talked about a prisoner exchange,” said the Jaramana aid worker. “But when we asked for names, they didn’t send any. We haven’t heard from the men since Tuesday. We don’t know if they’re OK.”

The National sought comment from the Ministry of Interior, which oversees the General Security Service, but received no response.

The Jaramana aid worker warned the abductions were an “alarming precedent”.

“These are aid workers. Kidnapping people delivering humanitarian relief will affect the entire province,” he said.

The only route into Sweida has seen repeated attacks in recent weeks. Last Friday, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent reported that a convoy was “directly targeted by gunfire”, damaging several vehicles. A Red Crescent volunteer in Sweida said armed men blocked the road and fired on the first three lorries.

“Problems on the road are common,” he said. “And the aid entering Sweida is so little compared to the need on the ground.”

The Syrian government denies it is imposing a siege. But the province remains inaccessible except through a single humanitarian crossing, which requires prior co-ordination with authorities for entry and exit.

A Syrian security force member fires a shoulder-launched weapon during clashes in Sweida city in July. AFP

Bread is rationed, supermarket shelves are bare and residents of rural towns survive on harvests from their orchards, sending what they can to the city. The fuel shortage has rendered water pumping stations inoperable, reducing supply to critical levels, according to the UN, and damage to infrastructure has further disrupted electricity, internet and telecoms. And journalists are barred from entering the province, hindering independent verification and the spread of news from inside.

A spokesman for the Red Crescent called on armed groups to “refrain from targeting humanitarian efforts and to facilitate aid access to the affected families in the southern region”.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says more than 1,600 people have been killed since the sectarian violence erupted on July 13 – including 429 summary executions by government forces.