Baku-APA. Clashes between the Lebanese army and militants raged on Wednesday on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, as the gun battles concentrated in areas of Ras al-Sarej, Ain Ata and Wadi al-Rahyan, APA reports quoting Lebanon's National News Agency.
The report said that the army also repelled an attack on a checkpoint in Ain al-Shaab, which lies between Arsal and the town of al-Labweh, leaving several militants dead.
A cease-fire mediated by a delegation from the Muslim Scholars Committee has been observed since 7:00 p.m. local time (1700 GMT) on Tuesday but apparently did not hold.
The delegation mediated the cease-fire on Tuesday night and managed to convince the militants to release three policemen they had been holding captive along with 17 others.
A delegation led by Sheikh Samih Ezzeddine headed again to Arsal on Wednesday to secure the release of the rest captives.
Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi told LBCI TV that a large number of gunmen withdrew from Arsal, while some remained on its outskirts.
The TV station said that several residents confirmed his claims, saying the fighters, who overran the town on Saturday, were nowhere to be seen.
The fighting has been raging since the weekend when the army arrested Imad Jomaa, a known terrorist from the al-Qaida-linked " al-Nusra Front". The army said that during the battles 15 soldiers were killed and 86 others injured, while another 22 soldiers are missing, possibly having been taken hostage.
Arsal, a predominantly Sunni town, backs the rebels against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has been used as a conduit for gunmen and ammunition to and from Syria.
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