Unknown Assailants Briefly Abduct Man in Halba

Unknown assailants opened fire on Friday on a small pickup truck on Halba highway in the northern district of Akkar, the state-run National News Agency reported.

According to NNA, assailants in a Mercedes opened fire at a pickup loaded with watermelon on Halba-Arqa road, wounding one of its passengers.

The suspects then kidnapped the injured man and forced him into their car and fled away.

Security forces launched an investigation to identify the shooters and their location.

Later, the news agency said that the man was released and submitted into a medical center for treatment.

He didn't sustain any gunshot injuries but bruises as a result of a beating.

Hostage-taking of wealthy businessmen in Lebanon has risen more than seven-fold in an unlikely knock-on effect from Syria's civil war.

The kidnapping is creating a sense of palpable panic. Lebanese media routinely runs pleas from families of the abducted.

H.K.

M.T.