Syrian Officer: Anti-IS Fight near Lebanon Border Soon Over

The battle against the Islamic State group in an area along the Lebanon-Syria will end within hours, a Syrian army officer has said, as the extremists faced news setbacks in the two neighboring countries.

The colonel's comments to the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV came as Lebanese artillery and aircraft pounded IS positions on the other side of the border as part of Lebanon's own offensive against the extremists.

The Lebanese army command said the fourth phase of the offensive that began on Saturday should eventually evict all IS fighters from the border region.

The Syrian army and its ally, the Lebanese Hizbullah group, launched an operation simultaneously with the Lebanese to clear IS from the Syrian side of the border in the western Qalamoun mountain range. Hizbullah has been fighting in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad's forces since 2013.

Hizbullah's al-Manar TV said that about 400 IS fighters are still in the border area.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said late Thursday that IS still holds 20 square kilometers on the Lebanese side of the border and 40 square kilometers on the Syrian side. He said in televised remarks that for any settlement for IS fighters in the area, the fate of nine Lebanese soldiers whom the extremists kidnapped in 2014 must be revealed.

"The most likely outcome of the battle will be a military victory and not a settlement," Nasrallah said. "What was achieved on both fronts is very important."