Missing Lebanese Soldier Reported Killed

Lebanese authorities on Friday received a list of names of soldiers killed – or currently being held hostage – by two militant groups.



According to a Lebanese security source close to ongoing hostage negotiations, the list included the name of a Lebanese soldier who went missing in August.



The source, who requested anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency that the list included the name of missing Lebanese soldier Ali Kassim Ali.



Abbas Ibrahim, director of Lebanon's General Security apparatus, has since informed Ali's family of his death.



"We had no information on what happened to Ali until we received the list, which revealed that he had been killed in clashes that took place in [the Lebanese border town of] Arsal between the Lebanese army and militants from the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, the source said.



In August, the ISIL and the Al-Nusra Front – both of which are fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – killed and captured a number of Lebanese soldiers in Arsal.



During clashes with the Lebanese army, Al-Nusra managed to capture 18 Lebanese troops in total, while the ISIL captured seven.



The ISIL has since executed two of the soldiers, while the Al-Nusra Front has executed a third.



The two militant groups demand the withdrawal from Syria of fighters from Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group, who for the past two years have openly fought alongside the Syrian regime.



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