Syrian troops kidnapped 2 Lebanese

Beirut , Lebanon- Syrian soldiers briefly kidnapped two members of Lebanon’s General Security after entering the country through a northern border crossing and firing randomly at offices belonging to the security apparatus, Lebanese security sources said.

Syrian soldiers also fired at the offices of a joint Lebanese Army task force at Lebanon’s Bqayaa crossing, the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added.

The offices as well as two cars were damaged in the incident.

The Syrian soldiers, who crossed 100 meters into the country and stayed in Lebanese territory for 30 minutes, warned their Lebanese counterparts not to allow armed men to shoot at Syria from the Bqayaa area and threatened to escalate their measures in the future should their instructions not be met.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel condemned the incident and said the Cabinet should discuss the violation during its upcoming session.

“The two General Security members are with us after the Syrian side released them and we should discuss this incident in Cabinet,” Charbel told reporters outside Parliament in Nejmeh Square.

Hours after the incident, General Security released a statement saying that their center was attacked by gunfire while the Syrian Army was pursuing gunmen, adding that the Syrian force briefly “took” two members of the security agency.

“The General Security center at the Bqayaa border crossing in the north was attacked by gunfire while a force from the Syrian Army was pursuing gunmen who had fired a missile from Lebanese territory at a Syrian customs center in the area that led to the wounding of two people from the [Syrian] center,” the statement said.

“During the operation, the Syrian force arrived at the Bqayaa General Security and took two members from the [Lebanese] center into Syrian territory and then released them,” it added.

The statement also said that the General Directorate of General Security was conducting necessary investigations and had informed the Interior Ministry of the incident.

The current Lebanese government is dominated by the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah militant group.

This is supposed to be the security month in Lebanon. Lebanon Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi told Al-Jadeed television on Sunday evening that the government’s decision to control the security situation in the country was serious.

The Daily Star