Ibrahim Says Besieged Nusra Militants to be Evacuated 'within Days'
An agreement to evacuate besieged al-Nusra Front militants from Arsal's outskirts will be reached “within days,” General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim said on Thursday, hours after a ceasefire started between the jihadist group and Hizbullah.
“The terms of the agreement are confidential and what I can say is that a ceasefire is certainly underway,” said Ibrahim after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.
"The armed men and those civilians who wish to do so will go to Idlib in an organized fashion, under the supervision of the Lebanese state," he told reporters.
He said Lebanon's Red Cross would help organize the logistics of transporting the evacuees to Idlib.
Asked whether the deal will involve the release of Nusra-held Hizbullah fighters, Ibrahim said: “This agreement is aimed at purifying and liberating Lebanese territory, and nothing prevents anyone to benefit from this liberation.”
Hizbullah's “War Media” outlet later confirmed that the deal involves the release of five Nusra-held Hizbullah fighters.
The ceasefire agreement came after a week-long Hizbullah operation in Arsal's outskirts that saw the Lebanese group seize control of much of the region, besieging al-Nusra in a small pocket of territory.
"There are two paths: the battlefield and the negotiations. Both are open," Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday.
Security in Arsal's outskirts has long been a source of concern.
The barren, mountainous border area has served as a hideout for militants, who in 2014 clashed with Lebanese security forces.
Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees live in the town of Arsal, adjacent to the border region, while an unknown number are also thought to have taken shelter in the surrounding mountains.
Source: Naharnet
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