The Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra has threatened to execute kidnapped Lebanese army soldier Mohammed Hamiyeh over what it called the army's “persecution” of Syrian refugees and “procrastination” in negotiations between the group and Lebanese authorities.
“We did not block the path of negotiations and we do not have crippling demands as they are claiming,” Jabhat al-Nusra said in a statement on Twitter.
“When we heard that negotiations may last for a month or two, we knew that the Lebanese state has blocked the way,” the group said, adding that kidnapped soldier Mohammed Hamiyeh might be "the first one to pay the price".
Hamiyeh was among nine Lebanese troops who appeared in a video posted by Jabhat al-Nusra on August 23.
Last month, the northeastern border town of Arsal witnessed heavy clashes between the Lebanese army and armed groups.
The clashes left at least 20 soldiers dead and 86 injured, while dozens of ISF and LAF soldiers were abducted by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front militants.
Turkey's Anatolia news agency quoted on Saturday (September 06) a commander of the Islamic State as saying that the group had executed one of the captured Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers for trying to escape.
"LAF soldier Abbas Medlej tried to escape from prison and after he attempted to open fire at IS members, we took control of the situation by slaughtering him," the Islamic State- Qalamoun branch said in a statement.
Also on August 28, the Islamic State posted photos and a video online depicting a militant beheading a blindfolded hostage who was identified as Lebanese Armed Forces Sergeant Ali al-Sayyed.
On Sunday (August 31), Lebanon's military said an al-Qaeda-linked Syrian rebel group released five members of the Lebanese security forces captured earlier in August in a cross-border raid.
The men were taken hostage when militants from Syria took over the Lebanese border town of Arsal for five days before withdrawing toward the Syrian frontier, taking with them Lebanese soldiers and policemen as hostages. The clashes were the most dangerous spillover of violence from the civil war in neighboring Syria.
While the release of the five men provided a degree of relief, concerns remain about the troops and policemen still in captivity.
Next
Lebanon’s State Security hails troops’ efforts in new year security plan