Families of Arsal Captives Mark One Year of their Kidnapping

The relatives of servicemen kidnapped by Islamist groups from the northeastern border town of Arsal in 2014 on Saturday the first-year anniversary of their abduction, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Sunday.

They chose Saturday to mark the occasion because it coincided with Army Day.

The families demanded officials to speed up resolving the file “to reach its happy ending.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam had sent Higher Relief Council chief Mohammed Kheir as an envoy to reassure them that the case of their loved ones is at the heart of his concerns.

The relatives meanwhile reiterated their accusations against the state of not doing enough to release the captives.

“We wish that the servicemen had died on the field, instead of dying a little every day,” they said.

The servicemen were kidnapped by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front groups on August 2, 2014, in the wake of clashes in Arsal.

A few of them have since been released, four were executed, while the rest remain held.

Their captors have made demands for the release of Islamist inmates in Lebanon in exchange for the servicemen.

M.T.