Kidnappers of Estonians Go on the Offensive as ISF Closes in
Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi confirmed that the armed ambush of two ISF officers in the Bekaa Valley on Friday was made by collaborators of a member of the group that kidnapped the seven Estonian tourists in March.
In remarks to al-Joumhouria daily published Saturday, Rifi said Friday’s confrontation between the ISF Intelligence Branch patrol and the members of the kidnapping gang at a bridge that connects Shtaura to Jlala was the second in less than a week.
Two officers were injured in the ambush by the three armed men driving a stolen Mercedes at dawn Friday. The vehicle was later in the day found set ablaze near Jeb Jenin.
Rifi said the gunmen who opened fire on the ISF patrol are collaborators with al-Hujairi who on Sunday clashed with security forces in Ersal. “We received information that he was badly wounded but his death is not confirmed.”
“It seems that the security measures we have taken against the terrorist group have put it in a direct confrontation with us,” Rifi said. “We look at (Friday’s) attack as an attempt by this group to move from a defensive to an offensive position.”
He warned that the ISF was closely monitoring the network and would do all it can to arrest its members and refer them to judicial authorities.
The Estonians were freed in July almost four months after armed men abducted them as they entered the country on a bicycle tour from neighboring Syria.
High-ranking security forces confirmed to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the Intelligence Branch is seeking to arrest the remaining members of the network that kidnapped the tourists.
It had arrested 9 people a few days after the abduction and later another person.
More than 17 people are members of the “secret organization” that carried out the kidnapping, security sources told al-Liwaa newspaper.
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