An unidentified “naval commando” kidnapped a Lebanese man in the coastal town of Batroun north of Beirut, a military source said on Saturday in Lebanon, a country torn apart by a war between Israel and Hezbollah. Without revealing the identity of the kidnapped Lebanese, the Lebanese national news agency Ani also reported this incident which occurred Friday at dawn in this town located around fifty km from Beirut.
“A naval commando kidnapped a civilian, an investigation is underway into the circumstances of the kidnapping,” said the Lebanese military source. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a judicial official confirmed that an investigation had been opened, affirming that the operation was “90%” the work of an “Israeli commando”.
A city spared by war
According to the Ani agency, citing residents, “a military force” carried out a “landing from the sea on the coast of Batroun”. She “went with all her armament to a bungalow near the beach, kidnapping a Lebanese man before heading out into the open sea on a speedboat.” A source close to the case in Batroun assured that the kidnapped man was training at the Institute of Maritime Sciences and Technology (Marsati) and was around thirty years old. He resided in Institute accommodation.
The Christian town of Batroun has so far been spared the devastating Israeli bombings which since September 23 have mainly targeted Hezbollah strongholds in the south and east of Lebanon as well as in the southern suburbs of Beirut. More than 1,900 people have been killed since that date in Lebanon, according to data from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
