Soldiers deployed on a road leading to the village of Arsal in 2014. (Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army announced Sunday that it had arrested a Syrian national in West Bekaa who allegedly commanded the group responsible for kidnapping 12 nuns in Maaloula, Syria in 2014.
Here’s what we know:
• Army command issued a statement Sunday announcing the arrest of Syrian national F. Kh, alias Abu Inad, in the village of Majdal Anjar on Saturday. According to the statement, the apprehended man “led an armed group belonging to the terrorist organization Fatah al-Sham (formerly the Nusra Front) and participated in the nuns’ kidnapping and their release in exchange for armed men belonging to the organization.”
• The 12 nuns were kidnapped by the Nusra Front from their convent in Maaloula, near Damascus, in December 2013, and detained in Yabroud, near the border with Lebanon. They were released three months later following Lebanese and Qatari mediation, in exchange for the release of 150 detainees held by the Syrian regime.
• The Syrian national arrested Saturday is also accused of participating in fighting against the Lebanese Army in several battles on the outskirts of Qalamoun, as well as in the border town of Arsal on Aug. 2, 2014, the statement added, also noting that religious books associated with Fatah al-Sham as well as binoculars, four cell phones, three cameras and an oil-coloured uniform had been found at his home.