"The second stage of the agreement on exchange will start on Monday morning. The Nusra terrorists and their families totaling 9,000 people will withdraw [from Lebanon] in exchange for release of the fighters [of Hezbollah] kept hostage by Nusra," the source said.
The terrorists and their families are set to leave from refugee camps in the mountainous Aarsal region to the Syrian Flita area. From there they will be delivered to Idlib province by buses.
Within the framework of the first stage of the exchange agreement, Hezbollah handed over to Nusra Front bodies of nine terrorists in exchange for bodies of its five fighters killed by Nusra.
In six days, Hezbollah managed to free 90 square kilometers (34.7 square miles) of the Aarsal region from Nusra Front militants by engaging in an offensive operation from Lebanon and Syria simultaneously, with the Syrian forces seizing control over the Flita area. On July 27, Hezbollah declared armistice in Aarsal.
Aarsal is considered the most tense region on the Lebanese-Syrian border. It has been used for arms smuggling and transit of new terrorist recruits to Syria. It also houses several camps for thousands of Syrian refugees.
