Militants Reportedly Kill 1 of 2 Kidnapped Lebanese Soldiers

Muslim militants killed a soldier less than 24 hours after kidnapping him and his colonel following an ambush in northern Lebanon, security officials said Saturday.

The officials said Lebanese army troops found the body of the kidnapped soldier when they raided a two-story building in Sir ad Dinniyah.

The building is believed to house a radio station run by Gamaa al Islamiya, an Egyptian-based Muslim militant group that advocates the creation of an Islamic state in Lebanon.

The militants ambushed an army patrol Friday night in northern Lebanon, killing four soldiers and wounding three, the Lebanese army said. The lieutenant colonel and the other soldier were kidnapped after the officer reported the incident to his command and asked for reinforcement, the army said.

There was no word on the kidnapped officer’s whereabouts, according to the security officials, who asked not to be named. They refused to identify either of the soldiers.

Sir ad Dinniyah, in a lightly populated mountainous area east of the northern port city of Tripoli, is known to be a haven for Gamaa al Islamiya. It was the scene of clashes that started Friday between Islamic extremists and Lebanese army troops.

The security officials said that five civilians were wounded Saturday when mortars hit a home in Assoun, a neighboring village, and that fighting killed another soldier and wounded two others.