Arsal figures: Residents in Arsal fall victim to abductions

           
Arsal figures announced on Monday that the residents had cut-off the town's road in protest of the abductions and "the suffering they endure" in full view of the military and security forces, adding that those incidents "fall under a 'demonic' plan" that aims at undermining the economic sector in Arsal.         

In this regard, the aforementioned figures stressed that residents in Arsal do not cooperate with smugglers and drug dealers, calling on all clans in Baalbek- Hermel to shoulder their responsibilities in finding a settlement to this issue.         

A wave of tit-for-tat kidnapping began on Sunday March 24, when Hussein Kamel al-Jaafar was kidnapped by unidentified assailants and reportedly taken into Syria.           

In retaliation, the al-Jaafar clan of Baalbeck kidnapped 5 from Arsal.         

On Tuesday [April 2] the Lebanese armed forces deployed in the Sharawneh district of Baalbeck where the Jaafar clan resides in search of the captives.            

The kidnappers of Hussein Kamel Jaafar, who is reportedly being held in Syria’s Yabroud village, have asked for a $1 million USD ransom, the National News Agency reported last Thursday.