Turkey issues travel alert as pilots abducted in Lebanon

Ankara: Turkish government has warned its citizens against non-essential travel to Lebanon and called those already in the country to return home after two Turkish pilot were kidnapped in Beirut Friday. Earlier in the day, a Turkish Airlines pilot and his assistant were kidnapped in an ambush on a bus in Lebanon`s capital city of Beirut, reported Xinhua citing a security source. Lebanese media said that a group claimed responsibility for the abduction, demanding to release nine Lebanese Shi’ite Muslims who were kidnapped near the Turkish-Syrian border last year to swap the two Turks. IANS