By Susan Duclos
Both Russia Today and The Voice of Russia are reporting that al-Qaeda linked extremists are holding 200 Kurdish hostages in Syria, including women and children, and using them as a "live shield," RT reports and a "human shield," the Voice of Russia reports.
Reports show the Russian Foreign Ministry is condemning the actions, stating "Moscow strongly condemns the atrocities of the international terrorist
organization in northeastern Syria and the excesses and abuses committed
by extremists against peaceful Kurds, who are not involved in any way
in the ongoing military-political conflict in Syria"
The story is developing and updates will be added as they become available.......
[Update] Over the weekend Syrian Kurd fighters captured a
rebel leader, or emir, identified as Abu Musab and in response the
al-Qaeda linked militants abducted 500 civilians. The Kurdish fighters
agreed to release Abu Musab in exchange for people and did so, but 200 of the civilians are still being held by the extremists.
[Update] RT is reporting the al-Qaeda-affiliated group is called Jahbat al-Nusra.
[Update] More from the Russian Foreign Ministry
website, "In these areas, there has long been confrontation between the
troops of the international extremists affiliated with al-Qaeda and
local Kurdish militias who stood up to protect their homes from attacks
by radical Islamists."
