Local group in Syria’s Daraa searches for kidnapped Jordanians
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – A local armed group launched on Tuesday a raid and search operation for two Jordanian drivers who were kidnapped while they were in Daraa, southern Syria.
Sources told North Press that a local group led by Saad al-Asami, which includes young men from the town of Dael in the northern countryside of Daraa and works for the Central Committee of the government forces, launched a raid and search operation in some farms surrounding the Damascus-Daraa highway, in search of the Jordanian drivers.
On Aug. 26, two drivers, identified as Maher Bashir Abdullah al-Sufi and Mahmoud Samih Ahmad Oweida, went missing. They were last seen in the town of Khabab, north of Daraa. They were reportedly waiting to transport passengers back to Jordan when communication was lost.
The Jordanian news site al-Wakeel reported on Monday that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of $150,000 via the mobile phone of one of the drivers, according to Fathiya Mahjoub, mother of Muhammad Oweida.
Mahjoub added that the kidnappers requested the $150,000 via her son’s WhatsApp without providing further details on whether the amount was for the release of her son alone or for him and his friend, Maher al-Sufi.
Both Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Jordanian Embassy in Damascus contacted Mahjoub to gather more details and follow up on the case. They urged all concerned parties to intervene to rescue her son and his friend from the kidnappers.
Residents in the area accused a group led by Shadi Jaafar, who works for the Lebanese Hezbollah, of kidnapping the drivers. This group is present and controls the area where the drivers went missing, despite the presence of military points belonging to the government forces.