Nusra Front Threatens To Kill Captured Lebanese Soldier

An Al-Qaeda-linked group on Friday threatened to execute one of the Lebanese soldiers it is holding hostage if the Lebanese authorities failed to release a detained female group member. 



The Al-Nusra Front has given Lebanese authorities eight hours, which will expire at midnight, to meet its demands.



"Eight hours until the release of Jumana Hamid or the captive, Ali al-Bazzal, will be executed," a Twitter account associated with the Front asserted.



"It is unwise for the Lebanese government to involve its citizens in a lost cause," the Front said in a tweet that also featured a photo of a group member holding a sword to al-Bazzal's throat.



In February, the Lebanese army arrested three women who were reportedly driving an explosive-laden car.



Two of them were released after being cleared by authorities, while Hamid – who was driving the car – was charged with "transporting a car bomb" and now awaits trial.



In August, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Al-Nusra Front – both of whom are fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – captured several Lebanese soldiers near the border with war-torn Syria.



Al-Nusra captured 18 Lebanese troops in total, while the ISIL captured seven during clashes with the Lebanese army.



The ISIL has since executed two of the soldiers, while Al-Nusra has shot dead a third.



The two militant groups demand the withdrawal from Syria of fighters from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group, who for the past two years have been openly fighting alongside Syrian regime forces.



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