Artillery fired toward militant jihadists' position in Jurud Arsal, a mountainous region bordering Syria
© AFPArtillery fired toward militant jihadists' position in Jurud Arsal, a mountainous region bordering Syria, last month.
Small groups of Daesh militants are surrendering to Lebanese militia Hezbollah near a checkpoint at the Syrian-Lebanese border, a source in Hezbollah told Sputnik on Friday.

The source specified that some of the militants had already surrendered, while others were ready to lay down the arms.

"IS [Daesh] militants began to surrender in Qalamoun [mountains in Aarsal region bordering Syria] near the Zamrani checkpoint after the territory of the checkpoint came under full control of Hezbollah," the source said.

Earlier on Saturday, the Lebanese army launched an operation to defeat Daesh on its side of the border with Syria. At the same time, Hezbollah along with Syrian army is conducting operations against Daesh on the Syrian side of the border.

This stretch of the Lebanese-Syrian border has been used by Islamists to smuggle weapons and fresh recruits into Syria. The Lebanese government approved recommendations last week to attack Daesh positions after Prime Minister Saad Hariri accused them of mounting attacks on security forces.

Lebanon, Hizballah Unleash Attacks On IS At Syrian Border

The Lebanese army on August 19 announced that it had launched a long-awaited military campaign against an Islamic State (IS) enclave straddling its northeast border with Syria.

At the same time, Lebanon's Shi'ite Hizballah group announced that it had started a joint military operation with the Syrian army from the Syrian side of the frontier, in the western Qalamun mountain range.

The Lebanese army said it was attacking the group from inside its territory and was not coordinating with Hizballah or the Syrian army in the operation.

In a televised news conference, a Lebanese army spokesman said the operation would continue until the army recovered control of the last part of the Lebanese-Syrian frontier that remains under the extremist group's control. The offensive seeks to end a years-old threat to neighboring towns and villages.

Any joint operation between the Lebanese army and Hizballah and the Syrian army would be politically sensitive in Lebanon because Lebanon is a recipient of sizable U.S. military aid and Washington classifies the Iran-backed Hizballah as a terrorist group.

Speaking at a televised news conference, General Ali Kanso characterized the 600 IS fighters in the area as 600 "suicide bombers."

"It's the most difficult battle so far waged by the Lebanese army against terrorist groups -- the nature of the terrain and the enemy," Kanso said.