The Chief of Staff of the FSA-affiliated Central Division, Colonel Abdul Ghani Swayed, was kidnapped yesterday by unidentified gunmen in kafr Zita town, nearly 30 km to the north of Hama city.
The defected Syrian Army officer was at a medical clinic when masked assailants stormed the small facility, battering the staff and confiscating radio receivers and mobile phones.
The U.S.-backed Central Division issued a statement holding the kidnappers fully responsible for the safety of its Chief of Staff, and accusing local sleeper cells recruited by Syrian intelligence of having conducted the abduction.