Families of captured soldiers block roads in Lebanon

BEIRUT: Some of the families of soldiers captured by militants pitched a tent on a vital highway in north Lebanon, while others blocked roads with burning tires, all demanding the government find a speedy solution to their crisis.

In the early hours of the morning, a group of the relatives used burning tires to block the highway linking Labweh to Arsal in the northern Bekaa.

Minutes later, residents of Fneydeq parked their vehicles in the middle of a two-way road near Mhammara Bridge in the northern region of Akkar.

Members of the Internal Security Forces intervened and reopened the road before residents were able to pitch a tent on the Abdeh Highway in Akkar.

The family of Ali al-Masri, one of the abducted soldiers, also blocked both lanes of a main highway in Baalbek, east Lebanon, in protest of his continued detention.

The relatives are demanding the government swiftly works to release their loved ones who were captured by ISIS and Nusra Front during the Aug. 2 clashes with the Lebanese Army in the border region of Arsal.

In a number of videos released on social media websites showing the captured soldiers, the captives appealed to their relatives to block roads in a bid to pressure the government to meet the demands of the militants.

The gunmen from ISIS and Nusra Front are demanding the release of Islamist detainees in Roumieh Prison, a request the government has implicitly rejected.

In a video posted on YouTube, ISIS threatened to slaughter the soldiers unless the Lebanese government acted to release Islamist detainees, a day after a man, claiming to be a member of the radical group, posted a picture showing the alleged beheading of a soldier.

Ali al-Sayyed, the soldier who ISIS allegedly beheaded, is from Fneydeq where residents have been blocking roads for two days in response to his reported killing.

The Lebanese Army has said it was investigating the claim.