Relatives of Kidnapped Servicemen Block Roads, Protest Negligence

Relatives of the kidnapped servicemen taken hostage by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front blocked the Banks street in Riad al-Solh square on Sunday protesting the delay in efforts to free their sons.

“We have heard nothing about our sons since eight months. We have information that the crisis cell is exerting no efforts currently,” they stated.

“Our move today is to bring the file of our kidnapped sons back to the table of dialogue until a solution is reached.

“The dialogue session has convened three times and we are sure that our cause has not been addressed,” they added, in reference to the national dialogue table that Speaker Nabih Berri brought the rival politicians to in order to address pending issues.

After blocking the Banks street, the families headed to the airport road and briefly blocked it on both ways with burning tires.

The relatives have warned a day earlier that they will take escalatory measures starting Sunday to pressure the authorities into bringing the captives back home.

In a statement they released on Saturday, the families accused the authorities of neglecting the cause of the soldiers and policemen who were taken hostage by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front when they overran the northeastern border town of Arsal in August 2014.

They said they would resort to “painful escalatory measures to reprioritize their cause.”

The families have been blocking roads and holding sit-ins since their loved-ones were taken captive following bloody gunbattles between the Lebanese army and the jihadists more than a year ago.

A few of the captives have been released and four were executed.

Negotiations aimed at their release have stalled.