New wave of kidnappings hit Lebanon
LEBANON: A wave of tit-for-tat sectarian kidnappings took
place in a sensitive area of northeast Lebanon on Sunday, a security
official said.
“Unidentified gunmen kidnapped Hussein Kamel Jaafar, aged 37, in the
countryside near the town of Arsal,” the source told AFP on condition of
anonymity.
“After that, dozens of armed members of his clan went to Arsal from
Hermel and Baalbek (eastern Lebanon) and kidnapped several of the town’s
residents,” the source said.
Arsal is a majority Sunni Muslim town whose inhabitants generally
support the revolt in neighbouring Syria, while most of the population
of Hermel and Baalbek are Shiites.
Residents of Arsal said about eight people from their town were
kidnapped on Sunday, although the security source could not confirm the
figure.
The incident comes seven months after dozens of foreigners, mostly
Syrians, were abducted by another Shiite clan, Al-Muqdad. Lebanon is
sharply divided over the war in Syria, which the United Nations says has
killed at least 70,000 people since March 2011, and it has seen frequent
violence linked to the raging conflict.
AFP |