A ceasefire has taken effect in a mountainous area of the Lebanese-Syrian border where Lebanon's Hezbollah says it is on the verge of defeating jihadist militants in their last foothold at the frontier.
The ceasefire began at 6am on Thursday (1pm AEST), halting fighting on all fronts in areas near the Lebanese border town of Arsal where Hezbollah launched its assault on Nusra Front militants on Friday, a military news service run by Hezbollah reported.
A source familiar with negotiations, brokered by a Lebanese internal security agency, said the remaining Nusra Front fighters were willing to accept safe passage to rebel-held parts of Syria.
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday his group was close to defeating Nusra Front militants, saying they had "effectively lost" most of the land they held in the barren, mountainous border region known as Jroud Arsal.
