 In February 1988, ""Amal seemed to lose control"" when US-Colonel William R. Higgins, who served in a senior position of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), was kidnapped on the coastal highway to Naqoura close to Rashidieh by armed men suspected of being affiliated with Hezbollah.The incident took place following a meeting between Higgins and a local Amal leader and led to renewed clashes between Amal and Hezbollah, mainly in Beirut.Throughout the war, clandestine excavations were conducted in Rashidieh.