Israel Releases Kidnapped Shepherds

The Israeli army released late Thursday two Lebanese shepherds, the same day it kidnapped them from Lebanese territories in the South.

The Lebanese army said in a communique that shepherds Hassan Zahra and his brother Ismail Zahra, who hail from the border town of Shebaa, crossed into Lebanon through the Naqoura crossing with the help of U.N. peacekeepers.

An Israeli foot patrol kidnapped the two men along with two women and a child after crossing the border into the area of Bastara farms.

The army said in a prior communique that the women - Nuhad Ali Awad and Wafaa Ali Moussa and the child Wouroud Hussein Zahra - were detained after they attempted to thwart the kidnapping.

But Israel later released them, the military said.

G.K.

M.T.