Two Arsal Residents Nabbed after Meqdad Family Member Abducted

Young men who hail from the Bekaa border town of Arsal on Thursday kidnapped Lebanese citizen Youssef al-Meqdad while he was buying goods in their town, state-run National News Agency reported.

The abduction comes in retaliation for a recent robbery which Arsal residents have blamed on young men from al-Meqdad family, NNA said.

Later on Thursday, LBCI television reported that "two people who hail from Arsal were abducted in the town of Maqneh in retaliation for the kidnapping of a man from al-Meqdad family in Arsal."

Tit-for-tat abductions are frequent in the area and last month a Arsal resident was abducted on the road of the neighboring town of al-Labweh.

In March, a tit-for-tat wave of abductions erupted between residents of Arsal and the Hermel region, after unknown individuals kidnapped 30-year-old Hussein Kamel Jaafar who hails from the Hermel town of al-Bustan. The incident prompted members of the Jaafar clan to nab several Arsal residents.

In the wake of the kidnappings, the army deployed on the international highway and set up new posts, especially at al-Labweh's entrance which is the only route to and from Arsal.