Lafarge evacutes Syrian factory amid security concerns

Lafarge said Thursday it has evacuated its Syrian factory and halted all operations there indefinitely there amid security concerns.

Lafarge operates a 3Mta factory in Ein Al-Arab, about 160km northeast of Aleppo, near the Turkish border, an area where the US has carried out air strikes against Islamic State militants.

The plant was evacuated on 18 September 2014 and all operations have been halted until workers' security can be guaranteed, a spokeswoman said.

Islamic State took control of the plant five days ago after militants carried out a suicide bomb attack on a Kurdish checkpoint and made their way to the factory, according to Rami Abdulrahman, who runs the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Lafarge has declined to comment on whether the plant had been besieged by IS militants. A spokeswoman said "no major damage" appeared to have been incurred to the factory and that the group had asked its workers not to return to the site.