BEIRUT, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The second phase of a ceasefire deal reached between Hezbollah and the jihadist al-Nusra Front group militants kicked off Monday, Hezbollah's news agency said.
The deal would see around 9,000 jihadists and their families return to Syria's northwestern province of Idlib. These militants and their relatives have been in eastern Lebanon since the beginning of the Syria war, the media unit said.
In exchange, an undetermined number of Hezbollah prisoners would be freed.
On Sunday, Hezbollah and the jihadist militants exchanged bodies of fighters as the first phase of a ceasefire deal announced by Hezbollah and confirmed by Lebanon's General Security agency on Thursday.
Hezbollah's "War Media" outlet reported that the first part of the deal included "exchanging the bodies of nine al-Nusra fighters for the remains of five Hezbollah fighters who died in the battles."
The ceasefire deal came after Hezbollah declared on Wednesday a "major victory" in the offensive against Nusra in the mountainous border region of Arsal's outskirts.
