Iraqi forces free Lebanese hostage in Basra

By Hussein al-Amir

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraqi forces have freed a Lebanese national in southern Iraq, according to a local military officer.

Iraqi forces carried out a security operation in central Basra with a view to freeing the Lebanese man, who was kidnapped on Tuesday, Army Major Jomaa al-Hamrani said.

“He was found blind-folded and handcuffed inside a house,” al-Hamrani told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday.

He said one of the kidnappers was detained and a manhunt was launched for other abductors.

According to al-Hamrani, motives of the kidnapping remain unknown.

Crime, including kidnappings and extortion, has soared in oil-rich, Shia-majority Basra amid rivalry among local tribes.