Hezbollah Lebanon: Exit of a Group of ISIS from the Lebanon Border as Part of Ceasefire Agreement

The Shia group Hezbollah Lebanon announced on Saturday, September 2, that 'the vast majority' of a group of ISIS forces, which were supposed to leave the border area between Syria and Lebanon under an agreement, have exited the area. According to a statement from Hezbollah, with the departure of this group from the mentioned area, Hezbollah and the Syrian army no longer have any responsibility towards these individuals. The Associated Press also confirmed this news in a report published on Saturday, citing two Syrian opposition groups. This news comes less than a week after US-led coalition forces announced on August 30 that they prevented militants from the group known as 'Islamic State' from reaching eastern Syria and a town under the control of this group by conducting airstrikes as they exited from the border areas of Lebanon. On Wednesday, August 30, the French news agency reported, citing a spokesperson for the coalition against ISIS, that hundreds of militants from this group intended to move from the Lebanon-Syria border area to a town in eastern Syria adjacent to Iraq following a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah Lebanon, which ultimately failed. Now, Hezbollah states in its announcement that the vast majority of a group consisting of about 300 ISIS militants managed to leave the area controlled by Bashar al-Assad's government on buses. The Associated Press, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reports that 'dozens of militants and civilians' left the buses that had been stopped by US coalition forces and drove themselves to parts of the eastern Deir ez-Zor province that are still under Islamic State control. Reports indicate that ISIS militants are also bringing their families along. Earlier, the French news agency reported that ISIS had reached an agreement with the Shia movement Hezbollah Lebanon regarding their exit from Lebanon and intended to send their forces to eastern Syria under this agreement. According to this agency, the mentioned agreement was reached after a week of continuous battles between Hezbollah forces and ISIS at the Syria-Lebanon border, which ended in early September, and the next day, ISIS militants attempted to head towards the Iraqi border, which the US-led coalition prevented. Saturday's reports did not specify which battle was meant, but it seems to refer to the battle that Hezbollah announced began on August 19. The Lebanese army and the Shia group Hezbollah announced on Saturday, August 19, that they would attack ISIS positions in western Syria from both sides of the Syria-Lebanon border. According to Reuters, citing a 'Lebanese security official,' the Lebanese army began its attack on ISIS positions near the town of Ras Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on August 19. On the Syrian side of the border, in the western Qalamoun area, the Shia group Hezbollah, alongside the Syrian army, simultaneously launched another operation against ISIS.