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.
