Tripoli gunmen arrested for abducting 26 illegal Syrians

Lebanese security forces have apprehended an armed group in the northern city of Tripoli that kidnapped a group of 26 Syrians who were recently smuggled into Lebanon, two Lebanese security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information with the media.

The Syrians included five women and seven children, and security officials are working to return them to Syria.

According to media reports, the kidnapped Syrians were on a bus crossing the Bab al-Tabbaneh district of Tripoli on Saturday night. According to some sources, the people abducted, who were immediately handed over to the army, were Syrian soldiers of the ousted Assad regime, while others were civilians.