Abou Malek al Talleh, the Al Nusrah Front’s emir for Qalamoun, warned that “jihadists are in their thousands across Lebanon, awaiting the permission to start the battle” and that Al Nusrah has “managed to break all the security barriers in all Lebanese regions,” and he promised a quick solution to inmates of Roumieh Prison. A Lebanese media report said that Al Nusrah and the Islamic State are willing to swap over 20 kidnapped Lebanese troops for captured Islamist fighters. Al Nusrah sent voice recordings of kidnapped soldiers to their families. Turkey has refused to help negotiate the release of the kidnapped soldiers. Tensions are high in Arsal, where the Army has reportedly arrested 450 suspected Islamist fighters, families of kidnapped troops are protesting for their release, and the Muslim Scholars Committee has alleged rights violations by government forces. A news reporter was kidnapped in the Bekaa Valley.
