BEIRUT – The Lebanese army freed in an overnight raid four Syrian hostages who were abducted last month by a powerful Shiite Muslim clan, the military said Tuesday.
The al-Mikdad clan kidnapped more than 20 Syrian nationals and a Turk in Lebanon in August in retaliation for the abduction of one of their relatives in neighboring Syria. Most already have been released.
The Lebanese army said in a statement that it arrested several people during the raid late Monday that continued into Tuesday. The freed hostages "underwent medical tests and will be handed over to relevant judicial authorities who will then send them back home," it said.
The kidnappings are the latest sign of how the Syrian civil war is spilling over into Lebanon. It's a troubling sign for a country that has gone through its own 15-year civil war and has an explosive sectarian mix.
Lebanon also has deep divisions between pro- and anti-Syrian factions.
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