BEIRUT: Buses carrying Syrians left refugee camps in a Lebanese border area bound for a rebel-held part of Syria on Wednesday under a truce deal between Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni Islamist Nusra Front militants, a security source and Hezbollah TV said.
Thousands of Syrians including militants and their families and refugees are to leave the border zone of Jroud Arsal and head for Syria’s northwestern Idlib province under the deal.
The transfer echoes deals struck within Syria in which Damascus has shuttled rebels and civilians to Idlib and other opposition areas. Such evacuations have helped President Bashar Assad recapture several rebel bastions over the past year.
The cease-fire took effect last week, just days after Lebanese Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched an offensive to drive Nusra Front and other Sunni Muslim militants from their last foothold along the Syria-Lebanon border.
The Jroud Arsal operation has highlighted the major role of Hezbollah in fighting militants along the frontier during Syria’s six-year war, sending thousands of combatants to support Assad’s government.
Hezbollah’s Al Manar television said that 26 buses had crossed from the Arsal area to Wadi Hmeid further northeast in the direction of the Syrian frontier. A security source said they were carrying 1,020 people.
Nearly 7,000 Syrians are expected to leave the area under the cease-fire deal, according to Hezbollah-run media outlets.
Security sources say that some 1,000 Nusra Front militants are among those who will leave the area for Idlib aboard dozens of buses.
The deal included the release of several Hezbollah fighters by the Nusra Front in exchange for individuals held by Lebanon. The first stage of the swap took place overnight.
Last week, Hezbollah captured most of the mountainous zone of Jroud Arsal from the militants.
The Nusra Front was Al-Qaeda’s Syria branch until it severed ties and rebranded last year. It now spearheads the Tahrir Al-Sham Islamist alliance in the Syrian civil war.
The Lebanese army, which receives considerable US and British military support, did not take an active part in the operation, setting up defensive positions around Arsal.
The next phase is expected to focus on a nearby enclave currently in the hands of jihadists. Local media say the Lebanese army will likely wage that phase of the operation.
Hezbollah’s role in Syria’s conflict has been criticized by its Lebanese political opponents, including Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri, who is a Sunni.
Syrians leave Lebanese border camps in buses for rebel-held territory
Syrians leave Lebanese border camps in buses for rebel-held territory
