A picture taken on August 17, 2017, during a tour guided by the Lebanese army, shows soldiers firing towards militants from recently captured positions, in a mountainous area near the town of Ras Baalbek.

:: The Lebanese army on Sunday announced a ceasefire in its offensive against ISIS to allow for negotiations over the release of nine soldiers kidnapped by the militant group three years ago.

The ceasefire went into effect at 7 a.m.

Since last week, Lebanon’s army has been waging an offensive on its side of the border against the ISIS pocket near the town of Ras Baalbek in the northeast.

In recent years, some attacks in Lebanon have been linked to ISIS, which controls territory in the shrinking enclave on the common border and neighboring Syria.