Diary of a Kidnapped Soldier

Mohammad Yousef and Hussein Ammar, two Lebanese soldiers kidnapped by ISIS, were visited by their parents in the outskirts of Qalamoun following Whats’app deliberation between the two sides under the watchful eye of the Army Intelligence.

Ammar’s mother Amina, his brother Hassan, his uncle Ahmad Zakariya headed alongside Yousef’s wife Ghinwa and his mother Souad to Arsal around 6h30 a.m. on Saturday where they left their car on the side of one of the roads leading to the outskirts.

They later moved to a 4x4 vehicle driven by an armed militant as part of a 4-car-convoy.

Zakariya told al-Hayat newspaper that the driver didn’t utter a single word until the car reached its destination and the two families parted ways, adding that he, his sister and her son walked blindfolded for about 5 minutes towards a deep, barely lit cave.

“Hussein was a mess. His beard had grown, his hair was dirty and he looked exhausted,” said Zakariya, noting that Ammar told his family during the 10-minute-meeting that the kidnapped soldiers were being forced to dig caves.

“They keep telling us that Hezbollah is thwarting the negotiations anytime they reach a good point,” Ammar reportedly told his visiting family, adding that they have been told that the government is lying to them.

Zakariya told al-Hayat that his nephew said that they have been attacked countless times by Hezbollah, Lebanese Army and Syria war planes shelling, noting that this has purported the militants to keep changing their location.