VIDEO 2: FADYA ABU AMMAR SPEAKS TO CAMERA
- Source: Islamic State via Najeeb Abu Fakher (Activist) (Confirmed)
- Location: Unknown location near Sweida (Unconfirmed)
- Date: July 31 (Corroborated)
- Archived here.
A second woman, Fadya Abu Ammar, appeared in a video circulated on social media on Tuesday, July 31, saying she and other hostages from a Druze village were in good condition.
Abu Ammar speaks in the video in a local accent, and gives the date as July 31. Again, her name was among those on a list of hostages shared by local accounts (archived here).
The earliest version of the video (archived here) was again found on Najeeb Abu Fakher’s Facebook account. He said in the description and the comments that the video was sent to him from the committee negotiating with IS. He said that, for security reasons, he could not provide details on the source.
Location:
This video had very limited geographic information. The video appeared to have been shot in a tent – daylight can be seen and the video was shot against a cloth background.
Storyful looked at the comments posted under several versions of the video on several Facebook pages. This approach allowed us to identify a woman with the same family name, Abu Ammar, who commented on a video (archived here) saying the woman was her aunt, providing corroborating information.
Date:
The video was posted on July 31. The woman in the video says the date is July 31.
Local officials and Syrian government representatives were reportedly negotiating (archived here) with IS for release of hostages in exchange for the safe passage of 400 members of the Khalid Ben Walid Army from the Yarmouk basin area to southern Syria.