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Hezbollah and Nusra to Trade Dead Bodies as Part of Ceasefire Deal

Published July 30th, 2017 - 09:12 GMT
Shia Hezbollah have been fighting to expel Sunni militant groups from the Arsal region in northern Lebanon. (AFP)
Shia Hezbollah have been fighting to expel Sunni militant groups from the Arsal region in northern Lebanon. (AFP)

A corpse exchange is set to take place between Hezbollah and the Nusra Front as a part of the ceasefire deal between the two groups, Reuters reported, citing the Hezbollah's al-Manar television station. The ceasefire began on Thursday and will also see five Hezbollah prisoners released, as well as the retreat of Nusra fighters away from the Arsal region on the Lebanon-Syria border.

 

 

Hezbollah, a Shia militant group and political party loyal to the Assad regime in Syria, is considered a terrorist organisation by the US. They have been fighting in the mountainous border area with the Nusra Front (Jabhat Fatah al-Sham), a Sunni Islamist group also known as al-Qaeda in Syria and part of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham coalition.

The Arsal offensive, which saw the Hezbollah take huge portions of land in the mountainous region of north Lebanon from the Nusra Front, has been the subject of much media attention. It is believed that around 150 Sunni militants were killed, while only a few dozen Hezbollah fighters were lost.