Police say 5 Czechs, Lebanese driver missing in Lebanon

The five, along with their Lebanese driver have been missing since Friday night, when their vehicle a Kia was discovered in the Kefraya region in the western part of the Bekaa, the NNA report said.

The region is a popular wine producing destination for foreign tourists. The driver is also missing. They returned to the country a week later.

Voice of Lebanon radio reported that the father of Munir Taan had filed a complaint with the police station in al-Dweir and claimed that his son has disappeared in mysterious circumstances.

BEIRUT – A Lebanese official says authorities are searching for five Czech nationals and their Lebanese driver who have gone missing in eastern Lebanon.

Kidnappings have been rare in Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Kefraya is located in the eastern Bekaa Valley, which is notorious for lawlessness, drug trafficking and feuding between clans. Some Lebanese media speculated that the incident could be related to the imprisonment of a Lebanese national in the Czech Republic. Seven Estonians were kidnapped by masked gunmen in 2011 and released four months later.

Earlier that year two Polish tourists were briefly captured in the Bekaa Valley but freed after security forces opened fire on their captors at a checkpoint.