Report: Lebanese Mother Stages Armed Kidnapping of her Children

A Lebanese mother led an armed operation on Wednesday to kidnap her own children while on their way to school in Mount Lebanon's Aley district, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The agency said Nadine Akkawi with the help of several gunmen kidnapped her sons Omar, 7, and four-year-old Jad while they were with their grandfather Farouq outside al-Iman school in the town of Aramoun.

However, Akkawi denied taking her children by the force of arms, telling Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) that her husband Mohammed al-Saadi had prevented her from seeing them over marital problems.

“I hadn't seen them for two months,” she said.

An Internal Security Forces patrol was dispatched to the school and police opened an investigation into the incident, NNA said.