Retired Soldier Freed after Brief Abduction in Wadi al-Sarj

A retired Lebanese army first adjutant was released Wednesday after he was kidnapped overnight from the Bekaa border town of Arsal at the hands of armed groups.

The gunmen “have freed Ali Ahmed al-Hujeiri after abducting him at night from the Arsal area of Wadi al-Sarj,” Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported.

Hujeiri was nabbed from his grocery shop before he was taken to the town's outskirts, the National News Agency said on Tuesday.

Around a week ago, an armed group from the extremist Islamic State organization stole the pickup truck of retired army first adjutant Muhieddine al-Hujeiri after abducting him for several hours in Arsal's outskirts.

The IS and the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front have been holding several troops and policemen hostage since August 2, when they overran Arsal and engaged in bloody clashes with the army.

The militants of the two groups have bases in Arsal's outskirts and in the neighboring Syrian region of Qalamun.

Y.R.