Gunmen kidnapped two residents of the northeastern border town of Arsal on Tuesday, in retaliation to the abduction Monday of one of their relatives.

“Armed men from the Seifeddine family abducted two members of the Kranbi family from the square of the northern Bekaa town of al-Labweh,” state-run National News Agency reported.

It identified one of the kidnapped men as Amer Kranbi.

The agency noted that Hussein Seifeddine was abducted Monday from Arsal’ square and that the kidnappers took him to the town’s outskirts.

Arsal and al-Labweh had witnessed several abductions and counter-abductions linked to the Syrian conflict in recent years, with the crisis in the neighboring country inflaming sectarian tensions across the border.

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