Naharnet

Arsal Hostages Case in Limelight on Mother's Day

The families of nine Lebanese servicemen held hostage by the Islamic State extremist group blocked on Monday the road between the northeastern border towns of Labweh and Arsal to protest their continued captivity.

The relatives said they held their protest on the occasion of Mother's Day to shed light on their suffering.

They set in the middle of the road holding photographs of their loved ones.

The protesters issued a statement apologizing from the Lebanese people and the residents of Arsal on the road closure.

The statement appealed for mercy for the mothers of the captives and called for the people's support to bring the hostages back home.

The soldiers and policemen remain in captivity since August 2014 when jihadists from the IS and al-Nusra Front overran Arsal and took with them hostages following bloody clashes with the Lebanese army.

While al-Nusra Front freed 16 servicemen in exchange for Islamist prisoners last December, there are no news on the hostages taken by the IS.

The last time the relatives of the captives held a protest was in February when they held a sit-in near Casino du Liban in the town of Maameltein, north of Beirut.

G.K.

D.A.


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