The Lebanese army announced that a ceasefire in its own offensive against the Islamic State took effect at 7:00 am on Sunday.
The army said the ceasefire took effect to allow for negotiations over the fate of the nine abducted soldiers. Mediated talks have begun with the militants, a Lebanese security source said later.
The fighting began a week ago when the Lebanese army, and Hezbollah together with the Syrian army, launched separate but simultaneous offensives against the Islamic State enclave straddling the border.
Northeast Lebanon saw one of the worst spillovers of Syria’s war into Lebanon in 2014, when Islamic State and other militants briefly overran the border town of Arsal. The fate of nine soldiers that Islamic State took captive then remains unknown.