BEIRUT: Lebanon?s army announced a ceasefire on Sunday in its offensive against Daesh militants at the northeast border with Syria.

The ceasefire takes effect at 7:00 a.m. (12 a.m. ET) to pave the way for negotiations over the fate of Lebanese soldiers who are in Daesh captivity, the military statement said.

Northeast Lebanon saw one of the worst spillovers of Syria?s war into Lebanon in 2014, when Daesh and other militants briefly overran the border town of Arsal. The fate of nine soldiers that Daesh took captive then remains unknown.

The Lebanese army has been fighting Daesh militants in their last border foothold, near the town of Ras Baalbeck.

The attack began last week, coinciding with an offensive that Hezbollah and the Syrian army launched against Daesh on the other side of the frontier in Syria?s western Qalamoun region.