Lebanese forces kill men linked to Estonians' kidnap

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese security forces killed two men on Tuesday involved in the kidnapping of Estonian tourists in the Bekaa Valley earlier this year, officials said.

Security sources named the two as Mohammad Zarifi and Kinaan Yassin, saying they were killed shortly after midnight in an exchange of fire in the eastern Bekaa. Two members of the Internal Security Forces were also wounded.

Zarifi was from Syria and Yassin was a Lebanese national.

The seven Estonian cyclists were kidnapped in March shortly after crossing into Lebanon from neighboring Syria.

They were released unharmed four months later, though the circumstances of their kidnapping -- a rarity since the end of Lebanon's civil war in 1990 -- remain unclear and officials did not say whether any ransom had been paid.

A Lebanese security source familiar with the case said the Estonians were released after negotiations but gave no details. The area where they were kidnapped is known for lawlessness and many gangs involved in car thefts operate there.

In April, Lebanese authorities charged 11 people -- four of whom they said at the time were still at large -- with kidnapping the tourists at gunpoint and shooting at a security force patrol.

(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by David Stamp)