Nasrallah Defends IS Deal as 'Only Way' to Unveil Captive Troops Fate
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday defended a deal his group negotiated to evacuate Islamic State militants from the Lebanon-Syria border, saying it was the "only way" to resolve the "national and humanitarian" case of determining the fate of Lebanese soldiers captured three years ago by IS and later killed.
Nasrallah was responding to criticism of the deal, which was to allow over 300 militants and their families to relocate to an IS-held area in eastern Syria, near the border with Iraq.
The U.S.-led coalition and Iraq criticized the deal. Coalition warplanes disrupted the transfer by bombing a small bridge, cratering a road and striking another group of IS militants who were traveling to meet the convoy, which is now stuck in Syrian government-held territory.
Nasrallah said in a rare written statement that the evacuation will not change the battle for the largely IS-controlled Deir Ezzor province, where thousands of fighters are based.
He said Hizbullah fighters and Syrian troops are engaged in the battle for the province. "We transported those defeated militants from one front we fight in to another front we also fight in," he said.
"Our fight and our fate are one," Nasrallah added, addressing Iraqi officials.
Lebanese opponents to the deal were angry that IS fighters were traveling "on air-conditioned buses" after having been suspected of killing Lebanese troops.
Source: Associated Press, Agence France Presse
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