BEIRUT: Lebanese police shot and killed Tuesday two key suspects linked to the kidnapping of seven Estonians who were held for four months and released in July.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel hailed the operation and confirmed to The Daily Star for the first time that a ransom had been paid to secure the release of Estonians.

The Internal Security Forces described in a statement the two suspects killed Tuesday as “key members” of the cell that plotted to kidnap the seven Estonians.

An initial police report released early Tuesday and circulated through the media erroneously identified one of the dead men as Wael Abbas, the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping of the Estonians.

The report said the confusion was due to the strong resemblance between Abbas and one of the dead men.

It said the two men were killed in a dawn shootout that followed an ambush by members of the ISF Information Branch in the town of al-Bireh on the outskirts of Rashaya, Western Bekaa, on the Jeep used by the suspects.

The report said that two police officers were wounded in the chase, one seriously.

The bodies of the two suspects were taken to the state-run Baabda hospital, east of Beirut. They were identified as Mohammad Zarifi and Kinan Yassin, a security source told Reuters.

The bullet-riddled Liberty Jeep used by the wanted men was taken to the ISF headquarters in Ashrafieh, Beirut.

Both Charbel and ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi hailed the outcome of the operation.

Charbel also confirmed for the first time that a ransom had been paid to secure the release of the Estonians.

“At long last, Lebanon got confirmation that a ransom was indeed paid [in the case of the seven Estonians] which has stirred up a craving for kidnap-for-ransom,” Charbel told The Daily Star.

Talin has refused to confirm reports that a ransom was paid to free its citizens.

Charbel said in a statement that the men killed in Tuesday’s ambush were part of a gang that was plotting to kidnap other foreigners in Lebanon.

He also said that the dead man had been responsible for the April 2011 killing of an ISF member, Rashed Sabri, in the Bekaa town of Majdel Anjar.

Sabri was killed on April 10 during an exchange of fire with Darwish Khanjar, who was wanted for the murder of a Lebanese Army soldier and for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of the Estonians.

In his statement, Charbel said the news of the ransom for the release of the Estonians had sparked “a craving for a kidnap-for-ransom” atmosphere.

Two ISF officers have been dispatched to Estonia to determine the side that negotiated the release of the European nationals.

The shooting Tuesday was the second such incident in less than two weeks.

Two members of the ISF Information Branch involved in the hunt for the kidnappers were wounded when their patrol came under fire in the Bekaa Friday.

They were patrolling the village of Jalala, near Chtaura in east Lebanon, when their car was ambushed by three men armed with AK-47 rifles.

Seven Estonian cyclists were abducted by masked gunmen on March 23 while traveling through the Bekaa Valley shortly after visiting Syria. They were held for nearly four months, and released unharmed on July 14.

The kidnapped Estonians say that they were held in both Syria and Lebanon.