5 Czechs missing in Lebanon are kidnapped

Five Czech citizens who went missing in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley have been kidnapped, security sources confirmed on Sunday, saying several leads were being chased in the case.

The five men and their Lebanese driver have been missing since Friday night when their car was discovered in the Kefraya region in the western part of the Bekaa.

"The five Czechs have indeed been kidnapped," a security source told AFP.

"Professional cameras and video equipment were found in their car, which leads us to believe that there may have been journalists among them."

The sources said the motive behind the kidnapping was still a mystery and the five men have not yet been publicly identified.

"The security services are working on multiple leads but nothing is clear yet," one source said.

There has been speculation that the kidnapping may be related to the 2012 detention of several Lebanese in the Czech Republic, but the sources said it was not possible to confirm that yet.

Kidnappings have been rare in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war, when some 100 foreigners, mostly Americans and West Europeans, were snatched.

But some cases have been recorded, often for ransom and involving Lebanese as well as foreigners.

In the most high-profile case in recent years, seven Estonian cyclists were kidnapped at gunpoint in the Bekaa Valley in 2011 and were released some four months later.

The group claiming the abduction was previously unknown, and its motives were never entirely clear.

A ransom was reportedly paid, but that was never confirmed by any side.

The Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon is notorious in parts for lawlessness, drug trafficking and occasional feuding between clans.

In 2013, two German men were kidnapped in the region by abductors seeking a ransom.

They were released a few hours later, but subsequently arrested by Lebanese authorities on drug trafficking charges.