BEIRUT — The Islamic State terrorist group has released most of the 300 cement workers it abducted near Damascus after questioning them to find out who were Muslims and killing four who were members of the minority Druze sect.
The news, reported Saturday by a Syrian opposition monitoring group and a news agency linked to the terrorists, came two days after the Islamic State abducted the cement workers and contractors from al-Badia Cement Company in Dumeir, just northeast of the capital, after a surprise attack on government forces.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said all those abducted have been released except for 30 people who were guards at the cement factory. It said the fate of the 30 is unknown.
The Islamic State-affiliated Aamaq news agency said most of the 300 were released after questioning to determine their religion and whether they support the government. It said four workers who belonged to the Druze were killed and 20 pro-government gunmen are still being held.
The Druze, a 10th-century offshoot of Shiite Islam, made up about 5 percent of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million people. Lebanon and Israel also have large Druze communities.
The Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim terrorist group, considers all Shiites to be heretics deserving death.
Government forces and insurgents, meanwhile, clashed near Handarat, just north of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, activists said. In the western part of Aleppo province, troops backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters battled terrorists in Khan Touman and al-Ais, where insurgents last week killed more than two dozen Lebanese terrorists.
