Report: Syria holding 2 Lebanese security agents

BEIRUT – Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency says Syrian troops are holding two Lebanese security agents who crossed by mistake into the neighbouring country.

NNA reported Tuesday that the two members of the State Security Department were captured two days earlier while on a hiking trip in a mountainous region in southeast Lebanon.

Such incidents are rare along the border, though smuggling between the two countries is widespread.

The agency reported that contacts between Lebanese and Syrian authorities are ongoing to guarantee the release of the two.

The incident occurred near Mount Hermon where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet.

Syrian troops now control all the area along the border with Lebanon after evicting insurgents from some border areas over the past years.