A steam turbine at the Zouk Thermal Power Plant north east of Beirut exploded on Thursday killing one of the plant's engineers, the National News Agency reported.

“The explosion had seriously injured an engineer who was identified as Toni Jarjoura,” it added.

All eyes turn to the army's expected battle to eliminate the Islamic State group militants from the border towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baablek, after the evacuation of Arsal's outskirts from militants of al-Nusra, media reports said.

A senior military source told al-Joumhouria daily on Thursday that “the Ninth Brigade of the Lebanese army expanded its deployment in the direction of Wadi Hmayyed area and the amusement park,” but added that “the wide deployment in the outskirts and the border between Arsal and Syria does not mean that the mission has begun. It needs some more time.”

Kataeb MP Elie Marouni stressed on Wednesday that the battles on the outskirts of Arsal against Syria's al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front terrorists should have been led by the command of the Lebanese army instead of Hizbullah.

"The Lebanese state was absent from those battles, the war and peace decision was in Hizbullah's hand," the lawmaker said in an interview with al-Fajr radio station.

Security forces foiled on Wednesday an attempt to smuggle more than 4 million Captagon pills that were planned to be shipped outside Lebanon, the Internal Security Forces said in a statement.

Head of the Change Movement Elie Mahfoud on Wednesday said that Nusra Front's leader in the Syrian Qalamoun mountain region Abu Malek al-Talli should have been “executed on gallows” instead of letting him “negotiate” his escape to Syria.

Buses carrying al-Nusra Front militants, their families and scores of refugees began moving from Lebanon's Arsal to Syria's Flita Wednesday afternoon, after the first phase of a Nusra-Hizbullah prisoner exchange deal was finalized overnight with the release of three Hizbullah fighters in return for three Syrian Nusra prisoners.

Hizbullah's al-Manar TV said 113 buses carrying around 8,000 militants and refugees were moving into Syria. The evacuees include Nusra's leader in the area Abu Malek al-Talli.

The United Kingdom congratulated on Tuesday the Lebanese army on the occasion of Army Day and stressed the UK's continued support for the country's military institution, a press statement released by the British embassy said.

Hizbullah senior official Nabil Qawouq on Tuesday said the “battle against takfiri terrorism is not over yet,” assuring that Lebanon is capable of liberating the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa from the jihadist militants.

President Michel Aoun assured on Tuesday that Lebanon's military and security institutions are “fully prepared” to confront all forms of terrorism.

“We do not retreat in the face of terrorism in all its aspects and organizations. The army and the security institutions are ready to confront it,” said Aoun during a ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of Army Day.

Lebanon marks on Tuesday the 72nd anniversary of the founding of its army, as the military institution gears up for a challenging battle in the outskirts of the border towns of al-Qaa and Ras Baalbek to eliminate jihadists entrenched in the area.