The Lebanese army on Sunday announced a pause in its
offensive against Islamic State group militants along the border with
Syria to allow for negotiations on troops taken hostage in 2014.
The armed forces launched their campaign against IS
militants entrenched in the mountainous outskirts of the towns of Ras
Baalbek and al-Qaa on Lebanon's eastern border on August 19.
"The army command announces a ceasefire beginning at
7:00 am (0400 GMT) to make way for the last phase of negotiations linked
to the fate of the kidnapped soldiers," it said in a statement on
Sunday.
Nine troops are believed to still be held by IS after
militants overran the Lebanese border town of Arsal in August 2014 and
kidnapped 30 soldiers and police.
Four were killed by their captors and a fifth died of
his wounds, while 16 were released in a prisoner swap with al-Nusra
Front in December 2015.
The army has said the remaining missing troops were its
"top concern" in its offensive against an estimated 600 IS fighters in
the hilly border region.
"There has been no timeframe set" for the truce, an army source told the AFP news agency.
"The negotiations are ongoing for IS to withdraw and provide information on the fate of the troops," the source added.
Six Lebanese army troops have been killed since August 19.
Hizbullah launched its own simultaneous attack against IS from the Syrian side of the border in an area known as west Qalamun.
- Fraught negotiations -
Hizbullah's War Media channel also announced a freeze in fighting on Sunday.
It said the unilateral pause was "in the framework of a
comprehensive agreement to end the battle in west Qalamun against Daesh
(IS)."
The Lebanese army insisted it was not coordinating its assault with Hizbullah.
The nine Lebanese soldiers have been missing since
August 2014, when IS and then al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front briefly
overran Arsal, a town on Lebanon's restive eastern border with Syria.
The groups withdrew under a truce deal, but took 30 hostages from Lebanon's security forces with them.
Al-Nusra and IS each executed two of their hostages, and a fifth died of wounds sustained during the fighting in Arsal.
After months of fraught negotiations, al-Nusra handed
over 16 of the soldiers and police in December 2015 in exchange for the
release of prisoners from Lebanese jails and delivery of aid.
The head of Lebanon's General Security body, Major General Abbas Ibrahim, oversaw the release efforts in 2015.
He told Future TV on Sunday that "the case of the captive soldiers will be resolved today.”
The army's operation comes after Hizbullah carried out
its own six-day campaign in July further south on the border area
against what is now al-Qaida's former affiliate, after al-Nusra broke
off ties with the extremist group last year.
That offensive ended with a ceasefire under which 8,000
refugees and jihadists were transported to northwestern Syria in return
for the release of five captured Hizbullah fighters.
