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Lebanese soldiers held captive by Isis since 2014 believed to have died

Bodies located as part of ceasefire deal in Isis enclave straddling Syria-Lebanon border

Sunday 27 August 2017 15:57 BST

The fate of the ninth captured soldier remains unknown (REUTERS/ Hassan Abdallah)

Eight Lebanese soldiers who were kidnapped by Isis militants three years ago are almost certainly dead, the head of the country's internal security agency has said.

The army had retrieved the remains of six soldiers so far and was digging for two others, General Abbas Ibrahim said, although it still needed to conduct DNA tests to confirm the identities.

Isis has held nine Lebanese soldiers captive since 2014, when it briefly overran the border town of Arsal in northeast Lebanon with other militants - one of the worst spillovers of Syria's civil war.

The fate of the ninth soldier remains unknown.

Liberated from Isis, women burn their burqas and men shave off their beards

Locating the bodies was part of a ceasefire deal which took effect in an Isis enclave straddling the Syria-Lebanon border, where separate but simultaneous week-long offensives against the group saw them fighting the US-backed Lebanese army on one front and Hezbollah with Syrian troops on the other.

The two sides said they have driven the militants from most of the border region.

Hezbollah, which Western nations view as a terrorist organisation, has been fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces inside Syria since 2013.

Lebanon's main political factions are bitterly divided over the war in neighbouring Syria, and many would fiercely object to any direct cooperation with Assad's government.

In exchange for locating the bodies, the Isis militants will be evacuated to eastern Syria.

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

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1/30In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian family arrives at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian woman, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, reacts as she stands with her children in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past resident fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood , after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-regime fighters, gesture as they drive past residents fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood, after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood, arrive in Aleppo's Fardos neighbourhood

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian pro-regime fighter speaks with a child, as residents flee violence in the restive Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood. Syrian rebels withdrew from six more neighbourhoods in their one-time bastion of east Aleppo in the face of advancing government troops

AFP/Getty Images

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Smoke rises as seen from a governement-held area of Aleppo, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian soldiers targeting rebels-held areas in the eastern neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria. According to media reports, the army is now holding on 99 percent of Aleppoís eastern neighborhoods

EPA

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian pro-government forces patrol Aleppo's eastern al-Salihin neighbourhood after troops retook the area from rebel fighters

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian soldiers rest following the battle at al-Sheik Saeed neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria

EPA

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian pro-government fighter walking past closed shops in the Bab al-Nasr district of Aleppo's Old City. Once renowned for its bustling souks, grand citadel and historic gates, Aleppo's Old City has been rendered virtually unrecognisable by some of the worst violence of Syria's war

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

The crucial battle for Aleppo entered its 'final phase' after Syrian rebels retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The retreat leaves opposition fighters confined to just a handful of neighbourhoods in southeast Aleppo, the largest of them Sukkari and Mashhad

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian civilans arrive at a checkpoint, manned by pro-government forces, at the al-Hawoz street roundabout, after leaving Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods. Syria's government has retaken at least 85 percent of east Aleppo, which fell to rebels in 2012, since beginning its operation

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian civilians flee the Sukkari neighbourhood towards safer rebel-held areas in southeastern Aleppo

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrians celebrate in the government-held Mogambo neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, after rebel fighters retreated into a small pocket of their former bastion in the face of new army advances. The fall of Aleppo would be the worst rebel defeat since Syria's conflict began in 2011, and leave the government in control of the country's five major cities

Getty

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian refugee Aliya inside the tent where she lives with her husband and ten children in a camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Syrian refugee women and children outside the entrance to their tents in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA Wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA Wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A Syrian refugee woman outside the entrance to the tent where her family live, in the refugee camp in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, close to the Syrian border

PA wire

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

A vehicle drives past a mosque at night in Idlib, Syria. Picture taken with a long exposure

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

The night sky is seen through damaged windows in the rebel-controlled town of Binnish in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

In Pictures: The crisis unfolding in Syria

Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria

Reuters

Nusra Front militants and a Syrian rebel group withdrew from Lebanon's border region earlier this month.

They departed for insurgent territory in Syria after offensives by Hezbollah and the Syrian army.

Hezbollah has played a major role in fighting Sunni militants along the border during Syria's six-year war and has sent thousands of fighters to support the Syrian president.

The group and its allies have been pressing the Lebanese state to normalise relations with Damascus, testing Lebanon's official policy of neutrality towards the conflict next door.

Additional reporting by agencies

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