BEIRUT: Lebanon’s military court charged 12 people including a Lebanese soldier with kidnapping defected members of the Syrian army and handing them over to the Syrian government, a judicial source said.

The source said that only three of the 12 suspects are currently in custody after being arrested by members of the ISF’s Information Branch in north Lebanon Monday.

One of three detained Monday is a Lebanese soldier, he added.

The remaining suspects are being pursued by security forces.

The suspects allegedly confessed to kidnapping a defected Syrian officer and two defected soldiers and handing them over to the Syrian government. They also confessed to attempting to kidnap another defected officer, police said in a statement Monday.

The arrests come in light of an increase in the kidnapping of soldiers and officers who had defected from the Syrian army and joined rebels, the statement added.