Report: Tit-for-Tat Abductions between Hizbullah, FSA

Hizbullah and the Free Syrian Army engaged in tit-for-tat kidnappings triggered by the conflict in the neighboring country Syria as media reports said that armed clashes occurred between the two sides.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Thursday, Hizbullah kidnapped two people suspected of belonging to the FSA.

The move prompted the Syrian rebels to kidnap a person affiliated with Hizbullah from the Syrian town of Em al-Damam to press the release of the two men seized by the party.

The report said the man hails from the village of Hermel in the Bekaa.

Casualties were reported in the several battles that erupted between Hizbullah and the FSA, al-Joumhouria said without giving further details as to where the clashes occurred.

The two sides carried out negotiations led by one of al-Zaaeiter family notables and a member of a clan in Hermel, who reportedly have ties with Hizbullah and the rebels, the daily said.

The men were swapped inside the Syrian territories., it added.

Hizbullah has announced in past months the burial of several fighters, who “died while performing their jihadist duty," without elaborating on the circumstances of its members' deaths.

The party stood by Syrian President Bashar Assad since the uprising began in March 2011, even after the group supported revolts in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Bahrain.

The group says it is backing the Syrian regime because of its support for the anti-Israel resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine and because it is willing to implement political reforms.