A Syrian abducted in Zahle was released

A Syrian man who was kidnapped last week in Zahle, Beqaa region near the Lebanese Syrian border , was released early Monday, security sources said.

Habib al-Brimo arrived at his house in the early hours of the morning and contacted the Internal Security Forces.

National News Agency reported that Brimo was released in Arsal, northeast of Lebanon, at 12:15 a.m. He reportedly kept walking and took several taxis until he reached his house in Zahle. No ransom was reportedly paid for his release.

Brimo’s vehicle was reportedly intercepted by a group of unidentified men who snatched him from his silver Mercedes and left his car in its place.

Abductions have recently escalated along the Lebanese Syrian borders.

Gunmen abducted five Syrian men including four Alawites and one Shiite on Sunday along the border with Syria in retaliation for the kidnapping of Sunni Lebanese earlier on Sunday in the same region, a security official and witnesses told AFP.

Several kidnappings of Lebanese and Syrians have recently occurred in Wadi Khaled, which hosts thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled repression in their country.

The opposition Syrian National Council has repeatedly accused the Damascus regime of breaching the border with Lebanon and of launching attacks against Lebanese citizens and Syria refugees alike.