There were conflicting accounts, however, about the outcome of the border fighting. The Lebanese Army, which announced the cease-fire in a statement, said the truce had been intended to allow negotiations for the recovery of its missing soldiers. It did not claim to have defeated the Islamic State. Hezbollah, however, said that fighters from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, had surrendered, had turned over the bodies of two Hezbollah combatants and had agreed to help determine what had happened to a number of missing Lebanese Army troops. A week ago, the Lebanese Army, operating on its side of the frontier, along with the Syrian Army and allied Hezbollah militias fighting on Syrian territory, began a simultaneous offensive against the Islamic State in the border area, although neither side acknowledged that it was acting in concert.

Source: New York Times August 27, 2017 11:03 UTC