Islamic State 'Kidnaps 300 Cement Workers'

Jihadists abduct hundreds of Syrian workers after reportedly capturing a military airfield and power station near Damascus.

IS have reportedly captured much of Dumeir

Islamic State fighters have kidnapped 300 cement workers and contractors in Syria, say reports.

The surprise attack took place at the Al Badia Cement company, near the town of Dumeir, 30 miles northeast of the capital Damascus, Syrian state TV reported.

Contact has been lost with the employees, and it is not known what has happened to them, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It took place in the same area where IS militants launched an assault on Syrian President Bashar al Assad's forces on Tuesday night.

They reportedly captured much of Dumeir, including its military airport and power station.

Hundreds of families have fled the area, according to opposition sources.

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said it was unusual for IS to attack government forces, and it was probably in response to President Assad's advances in the ancient city of Palmyra.

"This is interesting because actually Islamic State have worked hand in glove in the past with the government, particularly in power stations," he said.

"Power stations in Islamic State-controlled areas are run and paid for, and the workers come from government areas to keep them running ... but this is also on a day when Islamic State's been dealt a bit more of a strategic blow.

"They've got an advance next to Damascus, but we've got reports they've lost their main border crossing in the north of the country into Turkey, and those reports have now been confirmed, which means they are now seriously beginning to get strangled.

"Their only border crossing point into Turkey is now in the hands of the Free Syrian Army and some Islamist groups, and they are coming under pressure from the Kurds closing on Raqqa, and their main supply route between Raqqa to Mosul has been cut."

Meanwhile, a third round of peace talks is expected to take place in Geneva next week.

UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the talks would focus on a political process that could lead to a "concrete or real beginning of a political transition".

Two rounds of "proximity talks" involving Syrian opposition and government representatives have ended without progress.

Earlier, UN humanitarian aid adviser Jan Egeland said he was "disappointed" with recent efforts to get aid convoys into besieged areas, and called on the Syrian government to "live up to its promises".

He told told reporters in Geneva that "April was supposed to be our best month" but aid delivery is "actually slowing down".