Hizbullah-Nusra Prisoners Swap Complete, Militant and Refugee Transfer Begins

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

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.

Twenty ambulances were escorting the buses, amid measures by the Lebanese army, General Security and the Lebanese Red Cross.

Several media outlets including NNA said al-Nusra took out one of its militants, Raad al-Ammouri, from one of the buses before executing him with gunshots in front of the civilian refugees.

NNA said the overnight swap of prisoners took place in the Wadi Hmayyed area in Arsal's outskirts.

Three Nusra prisoners from Lebanon's central Roumieh prison were swapped for three Hizbullah captives.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is playing a key role in the negotiations, assured that all three Hizbullah fighters were in good health.

Hizbullah's three captives were kidnapped when they lost their way during the ceasefire between Hizbullah and Nusra that followed the battles in Arsal's outskirts last month.

They were identified as Mahmoud Harb, Hussam Fakih and Hafez Zakhim, NNA added.

Lebanon's General Security, the Lebanese army, the international Red Cross and international bodies were supervising the transfer of militants and refugees.

Before leaving Arsal's outskirts, the militants burned the sites they used to occupy as well as their medium- and heavy-caliber weapons.

The final part of the deal includes the release of another five Hizbullah captives -- captured in Aleppo in 2015 -- upon the arrival of the convoy of buses at a crossing that had also witnessed a deal to evacuate civilians from the Syrian towns of Foua and Kfarya in Aleppo province.

On Tuesday, the evacuation ran into several hurdles and the process was postponed to Wednesday.

Demands made by al-Nusra related to the release of around 20 Nusra inmates from the Roumieh Prison were reportedly among the hurdles.

The exchange and evacuation deal comes in the wake of a military offensive by Hizbullah fighters and Syrian troops during which they captured border areas between the two countries and left hundreds of Nusra fighters besieged in a small rugged mountainous area.

The fighting ended with a ceasefire on Thursday.

SourceNaharnet
Comments 10
Thumb ___flamethrower___ 02 August 2017, 08:52

lol @ 'captives' versus 'prisoners'

Thumb ex-fpm 02 August 2017, 08:59

وأوضح ابرهيم أن "غدا ستنطلق قوافل النازحين الى ادلب وهي تنقل حوالي 10 آلاف شخص من بينهم 120 مسلحا وأبو مالك التلي معهم ".

https://www.annahar.com/article/631433-هذه-مفاجأة-اللواء-ابرهيم-بعد-وصول-موكب-اسرى-حزب-الله-الى-اللبوة

So, in the end it was 120 Nusra fighters that were going to conquer Lebanon!

Thumb marcus 02 August 2017, 09:10

yes but they were 20,000 to start with ( or so we were told by the iranian war media ) before the terrorist hezbollah killed 19,880 of them.

Thumb janoubi 02 August 2017, 10:06

lol

Thumb EagleDawn 02 August 2017, 09:41

"Three Nusra prisoners from Roumieh prison -four non-convicts and a fifth who has finished his jail term- were swapped for Hizbullah captives."

Military court, the Lebanese judiciary, and the Lebanese army working perfectly for the resistance.

Thumb shab 02 August 2017, 19:34

Looks like everybody is dancing to their tune. Failed state. We are doomed

Thumb warrior 02 August 2017, 23:24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxnM2vPXfj4
DNA - 02/08/2017 هكذا استسلم ابو مالك التلي

Thumb lubnani.masi7i 02 August 2017, 10:17

Untold Heroics
Season 3 Episode 313

Thumb Zaghloul 02 August 2017, 11:00

but the scum remains in dahieh.

Thumb justin 02 August 2017, 11:24

Meanwhile back in Baalbeck the Captagon industry flourishes

أعلنت المديرية العامة لقوى الأمن الداخلي انه وبنتيجة المتابعة والرصد الميداني والاستعلامي من قبل شعبة المعلومات في قوى الامن الداخلي لعمليات تصنيع وترويج وتهريب حبوب الكبتاغون، لما تشكله من خطر شديد على المجتمع وعلى سمعة لبنان في الخارج، تم تحديد مكان تخزين المواد الأولية لتصنيعها في مدينة بعلبك، ومعرفة توقيت نقل كمية كبيرة منها من البقاع الى بيروت، موضبة داخل حافظات حرارة (THERMOS) بطريقة سرية ومحترفة تمهيداً لتصديرها الى خارج البلاد.

https://www.lebanese-forces.com/2017/08/02/lebisf-116/