Evacuation of some Syrians from Lebanon area to start on Monday

300 rebels and 3,000 refugees, are to leave Lebanon under a deal

BEIRUT: A group of Syrian rebels and refugees will start to be evacuated from an enclave in Lebanon on the border with Syria back into Syrian territory on Monday, the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Manar TV reported.



Some 300 rebels from a group called Saraya Ahl al-Sham, as well as about 3,000 refugees, are to leave Lebanon under a deal that followed an assault by the Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah on insurgent positions last month. Their departure will leave an Islamic State enclave as the last militant stronghold straddling the border near the Lebanese town of Arsal, which is home to tens of thousands of refugees.



On Friday, the Lebanese security official overseeing the arrangements, General Abbas Ibrahim, said that a group of civilians would go to Assal al-Ward, an area just across the border from Arsal and held by the Syrian government.  The fighters and their families will go to another part of Syria which he did not identify. A military media unit run by Hezbollah last week said they would go to the rebel-held town of al-Ruhaiba in the Eastern Qalamoun region.