The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Wednesday that the group was close to defeating Nusra Front militants in the battle along the Syrian-Lebanese border.
"We are in the face of a very big military victory," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech. The militants have "effectively lost" most of the land they held in the barren, mountainous border region of Jroud Arsal, he added.
As soon as the fighting ends, the Shiite Iranian-backed Hezbollah would be ready to hand over territory it has captured if the Lebanese army requests it, he said.