Lebanon to station troops on border with Syria, says army chief

Lebanon's army will deploy along the country's entire eastern border with Syria and remain stationed there after recently recapturing areas from Daesh, army chief General Joseph Aoun said on Friday.

The remarks appeared to confirm comments by the Lebanese group Hezbollah that it was handing over points it had controlled along the border to the military.

"The army will deploy from now onwards along the extent of the eastern borders, to defend them," Aoun said at a ceremony commemorating Lebanese soldiers killed by Daesh.

An army offensive last month ended with the Daesh withdrawing from their last foothold along the border under a ceasefire deal. 

Daesh had held territory along the border for years when they briefly overran the town of Arsal with other militants, one of the worst spillovers of the Syrian conflict into Lebanon.

Lebanon mourns soldiers

As part of the agreement, Daesh also identified a site where they had buried ten Lebanese soldiers executed in 2014 during its control of the area. 

On Friday, Lebanon held a day of national mourning for the soldiers kidnapped and executed by Daesh in the region. 

President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri took part in an official ceremony to honour the men at the defence ministry in Yarze, outside Beirut, which was also attended by grieving relatives.

The coffins of the men, draped in the Lebanese flag, were marched into the ministry courtyard by soldiers as sobbing family members dressed in black looked on.

An offensive against the enclave ended with the evacuation of 300 Daesh militants and their 300 relatives to eastern Syria under a Hezbollah-brokered deal which fought Daesh on the Syrian side of the border with the help of Syrian regime forces.  

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in July it would be ready to hand over territory it captured if the Lebanese army requested it.

Hezbollah campaigns on the border

Hezbollah also led a campaign in the same area recently to oust Jabhat Fateh al Sham from their last foothold along the border.

Security sources said Hezbollah had begun handing over points it controlled.

Iran-backed Shia Hezbollah has played a critical role in vanquishing Daesh and anti-regime rebels in the border region during the six-year-long Syrian war, part of its military support for Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad.

The group, an ally of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, was key to the defeat of rebels in the Qalamoun area further south in 2015, and at the Syrian town of Qusair, in 2013.

Lebanon's southern border with Israel, a Hezbollah foe, is patrolled by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.