Convoys of buses arrived on Monday to transfer thousands of Syrian militants and refugees from Lebanon's border region into rebel territory in Syria in exchange for Hezbollah prisoners.

Under a local cease-fire between the Sunni Muslim militants and the Shiite Hezbollah, about 9,000 fighters and their relatives were to leave.

With no sign of any buses leaving, the departure was delayed to Tuesday from Monday for "logistical" reasons, including having to wait for the rest of a total of 98 coaches to arrive from the Syrian side, a Hezbollah media unit said.