Hezbollah recruited wanted criminals to take part in the Syrian war after providing them with arms, Lebanon's Annahar newspaper quoted a well-placed ministerial Lebanese source as saying on Saturday.

A number of wanted criminals fled to Syria but most of them joined Hezbollah group, which recruited them in the Syrian war and provided them with arms, added the source.

Lebanese Interior Minister Nihad Machnouk briefed Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on the security situation in Bekka, said the newspaper.

Machnouk said that as many as 425 abduction operations took place in Baalbek city and its surrounding within 14 months, said the newspaper.

Source: MENA