Police free young woman kidnapped two days ago in northern Lebanon

Lebanese police on Saturday morning arrested a man accused of kidnapping a woman in her twenties, who was freed two days after her abduction, according to a statement from the Internal Security Forces (ISF).

The victim, a Lebanese woman born in 2004 and residing in Beirut, was reported missing on Thursday by her father. Contact had been lost with her since the previous evening, the ISF said.

Investigators identified a suspect who allegedly lured the victim by posing as a security officer and then held her captive. The suspect, a Lebanese man born in 1982, has a criminal record that includes previous charges of kidnapping, theft, extortion and fraud. He is wanted by the judiciary.

Police located the place where the victim was being held — somewhere in northern Lebanon, though the exact location was not disclosed. At dawn, they launched a “lightning operation,” surrounded the suspect’s house, arrested the alleged kidnapper, and freed the young woman.

During questioning, the suspect admitted to abducting the victim by impersonating a law enforcement officer. He claimed he “held her against her will but did not physically harm her,” according to police. He also admitted he did not know the woman prior to approaching her and that he “regularly contacts young women to trap and blackmail them.”

The investigation is ongoing, and police have released the suspect’s photo in a call for witnesses, seeking to identify any additional victims.

La police libère au Liban-Nord une jeune femme kidnappée il y a deux jours