The al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front threatened on Sunday to “kill the Shiite Lebanese soldiers” it had kidnapped earlier in August should Hizbullah intervene in battles in Syria's al-Qalamun region, while also issuing a warning to the Free Patriotic Movement, reported the Turkish Anatolia news agency.
The group said in a statement that it will wage the battle to “liberate” al-Qalamun in a few days, adding: “Hizbullah's participation against us will force us to kill our Shiite prisoners.”
The Syrian army forces, seized control of al-Qalamun in April.
The al-Nusra Front had kidnapped a number of Lebanese soldiers and security forces from the northeastern border town of Arsal in light of clashes between Islamists and the army in the region.
The battles began on August 2 and ended five days later.
The gunmen withdrew from the town, but abducted the security personnel.
Five of them were released on Saturday.
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