Lebanon hails victory against Daesh

US official criticises deal that sent militants from the border with Lebanon to the border with Iraq

Lebanese President Michel Aoun declared victory against Daesh yesterday in a live statement form the presidential palace.

Aoun praised the Lebanese army for carrying out the operation that ended with the deal to evacuate Daesh fighters and their families in return for information about nine troops who were kidnapped by the militant group in August 2014.

The remains of several people have been uncovered in the border area where Daesh had presence and DNA tests are underway to identify whether they belong to the missing soldiers. Lebanese officials say they are almost sure the remains are of the soldiers.

“Our only consolation is that we knew the fate of the soldiers,” the president said.

“We wish they were celebrating with us.”

Army commander General Joseph Aoun told reporters later yesterday that as the army offensive against Daesh was ongoing, the Lebanese mediator called him to say that the extremists accepted a ceasefire in return for information about the fate of the soldiers.

“I had one of two choices. Either to go on with the battle and not know the fate of the soldiers or succumb and know the fate of the soldiers,” Aoun said.

In the Syrian capital Damascus, President Bashar Al Assad received Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hussain Jaberi Ansari who is on a visit to Syria. State media gave no further details.

Iran has been one of Al Assad’s main backers since Syria’s crisis began in March 2011.

US anger

Meanwhile, a US official yesterday blasted the deal that led to the evacuation of hundreds of Daesh militants from the Lebanon-Syria border to areas close to Iraq, saying the extremists should be killed on the battlefield.

The evacuation agreement, the first such publicised deal, had already angered many Iraqis who accused Syria and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of dumping the militants on the Iraqi border rather than eradicating them.

The top US envoy for the international coalition against Daesh, Brett McGurk, tweeted on Wednesday that Daesh “terrorists should be killed on the battlefield, not bused across #Syria to the Iraqi border without #Iraq’s consent.”

McGurk added that the antiDaesh coalition will help ensure that “these terrorists can never” enter Iraq. Lebanese troops launched an attack against Daesh on August 18 while Syrian troops and Hezbollah fighters launched a simultaneous offensive from the Syrian side of the border.

Once Daesh extremists were squeezed over the weekend in a small part of the border area, they agreed to a ceasefire.