FSA fighters exit Arsal as Lebanese army prepares anti-ISIS offensive

Around 3,000 Syrians, including hundreds of Saraya Ahl al-Sham fighters, a Free Syrian Army-affiliated faction, will be leaving the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Arsal as the army prepares to attack "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) militants in a nearby area, Annahar reported Tuesday (August 8th).

The army captured a number of strategic hilltops between the frontier towns of Ras Baalbek and Arsal from ISIS on Sunday, destroying the group’s fortifications and killing several of its fighters.

The army is expected to launch an offensive to defeat the group if negotiations over the withdrawal of ISIS militants to territories under their control in Syria fails, a security source told Annahar.

The success of the negotiations hinges on whether ISIS militants reveal the fate of nine Lebanese soldiers who were abducted in 2014 when ISIS and al-Qaeda-linked militants briefly occupied Arsal.

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