Report: Drop in Number of Militants in Border Area over Siege
The number of al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and Islamic State group militants has dropped after the terrorists were besieged by the Lebanese army in the eastern Bekaa Valley and by Syrian troops and Hizbullah fighters on the other side of the border, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday.
Al-Nusra gunmen are located in the area of al-Kassarat in Wadi Hmeid on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, which is a zone blockaded by the Lebanese army from the west and the Syrian military and Hizbullah in the east.
As for IS militants, their presence is concentrated on the outskirts of al-Qaa in Ras Baalbek and parts of Arsal's outskirts.
But the terrorists have found escape routes to either head to Turkey and Iraq or enter Lebanon by using fake IDs to escape the siege, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.
The total number of militants now present on the porous Lebanese-Syrian border is 700 after they were in the thousands, they said.
They also said that al-Nusra Front and the IS are still keep Lebanese servicemen hostage to prevent a further deterioration in their strength in the border region.
Al-Nusra is holding 16 Lebanese soldiers and policemen while the IS has in its custody six servicemen.
The troops and police were taken hostage when the two terrorist groups overran Arsal in August last year and engaged in heavy clashes with the army.
They have so far executed four of them.
While negotiations with al-Nusra Front to release the captives have made progress, the talks with the IS have reached a dead-end over the group's crippling demands.
“The leaders of the two organizations are fully aware” that if they release the hostages, then “this would mean the end of their presence in the (border) region,” said the sources.
“That's why they are resorting to the procrastination policy in the negotiations” aimed at setting the hostages free, the sources added.
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