Syria: Seven Red Cross workers abducted, aid group says<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Los Angeles Times<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13 OCTOBER, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gunmen waylaid a humanitarian convoy in northern Syria on Sunday and abducted seven people working with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the aid group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the latest in a series of kidnappings of both foreign nationals and Syrians along roads in largely lawless stretches of northern Syria, much of which is under control of anti-government insurgents. Some armed groups are reportedly using ransoms from kidnappings to help finance their activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunday\u2019s attack underscored the dangers to aid workers and others inside Syria, now in the third year of a bloody civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among those kidnapped in northern Syria in recent months have been a number of foreign journalists and two Christian bishops: Greek Orthodox Bishop Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim. The fate of the two bishops, who were seized near Aleppo in April, remains publicly unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seven aid workers abducted Sunday included six staffers of the International Committee of the Red Cross and a volunteer from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The nationalities of the six ICRC personnel were not made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kidnappings occurred near the city of Sareqeb in Idlib province, where various anti-government armed factions control broad stretches of territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official Syrian news agency reported that \u201can armed terrorist group\u2019’ \u2014 the government\u2019s customary term for armed rebels \u2014 opened fire on the Red Cross convoy. It was not clear whether anyone was injured in the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aid team had traveled to Idlib province Thursday \u201cto assess the medical situation in several … health structures and to deliver medical supplies\u201d to the cities of Sarmin and Idlib, the ICRC said in a statement. Such a trip would appear to require crossing of government and rebel lines, usually designated by checkpoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack occurred as the convoy was on its way back to Damascus, the capital, the ICRC said. The vehicles were clearly marked with the ICRC emblem, a red cross, \u201cwhich is not a religious symbol,\u201d the ICRC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Magne Barth, who heads he ICRC contingent in Syria, issued a statement calling for \u201cthe immediate and unconditional release of the seven colleagues abducted this morning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both the Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent, he said, \u201cwork 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The more than two-year Syrian civil war has created a humanitarian catastrophe. More than one-quarter of Syria\u2019s pre-war population of about 24 million has been forced from their homes, according to United Nations estimates. More than two million Syrians have fled the country. Heavy fighting and bombardment has reduced some entire towns and neighborhoods to rubble. Many hospitals and schools have been destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among its many missions, the ICRC in Syria distributes food and other essentials, helps restore water supplies, supports medical services and tries to put family members separated by the war back in touch with each other. The ICRC works in both government-controlled and rebel zones, and also assists refugees who have fled to neighboring nations. The work is often dangerous. More than 20 Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers have been killed since the conflict began, the Red Cross said in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of the danger, some humanitarian agencies have left Syria and others have cut back on their staffing in the war-ravaged nation. Still, the Red Cross on Sunday vowed to remain on the ground in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe ICRC is committed to assist the Syrian people,\u201d the ICRC delegation chief in Syria said, \u201c and will continue conducting its humanitarian activities both in the country and in neighboring countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Condemning the abduction ODFS Director, Ribal Al-Assad, said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I wholeheartedly condemn the abduction of these humanitarian workers, whilst delivering medical supplies they were kidnapped at gunpoint by armed rebels – not only is their safety in doubt but the vital service performed by the Red Cross has been put in jeopardy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is no excuse and there can be no reason for this act; the increasing violence and atrocities committed by the overwhelmingly Islamist rebel forces against innocent humanitarian workers, faith leaders and civilians is a wake up call to the International Community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These people must be recognised for what they are; terrorists who want to drag Syria into a dark age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The International Community must come together, strongly condemn these acts and bring these extremists to justice. All those currently held captive by rebel forces must be immediately released; the International Community has a duty to demand it.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Syria: Seven Red Cross workers abducted, aid group says Los Angeles Times 13 OCTOBER, 2013 Gunmen waylaid a humanitarian convoy in northern Syria on Sunday and abducted seven people working with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the aid group said. It was the latest in a series of kidnappings of both foreign nationals […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6471,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6468\/revisions\/6471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}