Turkish pilots kidnapped

"A kidnapping operation took place at 3:00 am targeting a bus carrying several members of a Turkish Airlines crew going from the airport to the hotel. Gunmen kidnapped two passengers from the bus, the pilot and co-pilot'' Lebanon's Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said.

Two Turkish pilots working for Turkish Airlines have been been kidnapped by armed men in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Zuwar al Imam Reda, a previously unknown group, claimed responsibility for Friday's abduction and demanded the release of a group of Lebanese Shia pilgrims kidnapped in Syria in 2012, Turkish and Lebanese press reports said.

Turkish Airlines press office announced that the pilots were Turkish nationals named Murat Agca and Murat Akpinar.

Inan Ozyildiz, Turkey's ambassador to Lebanon, told Turkey's Anatolia News Agency that the pilots had flown a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Beirut and were on their way from the airport to their hotel when the abduction happened.

The seven other passengers on the targeted bus were flight attendants, he said.

"The driver and flight attendants were forced to get off from the bus, and pilot and co-pilot were kidnapped [together with the bus]," Ozyildiz said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on social networking site Twitter that no effort will be spared to secure the release of the pilots.

Turkey also warned it citizens against non-essential travel to Lebanon and called on those already in the country to return home.