As Lebanon observes a national day of mourning, ten fallen Lebanese soldiers will be laid to rest Friday after three years of uncertainty over their fate.
Coffins carrying the remains of the soldiers, who had been held captive by the so-called Islamic State (Daesh) since 2014, were transferred from the Army Hospital in Badaro to the Defense Ministry in Yarze.
There, a state funeral was held in the presence of the late soldiers' families, along with the country's top officials.
Following the state funeral, the coffins were transported to Beirut's Central District, passing by the tents families and activist had put up in protest of the soldiers' unknown fate, before the body of each serviceman was moved to his respective hometown.
Earlier this week, authorities announced that they had identified the bodies of ten Lebanese soldiers that were found in an area along the Syrian border recently retrieved from Daesh.
The bodies were located by the Lebanese army late last month, following a ceasefire deal with the terrorist group in exchange for information on the abducted soldiers.
According to Reuters, the deal saw Daesh surrender their border enclave and "300 lightly armed fighters and 300 relatives" evacuate the zone.
Remember their names and faces
The ten servicemen - identified as Seif Thebian, Mohammad Youssef, Ali Masri, Ali Haj, Mostafa Wehbi, Yehya Khoder, Abbas Medlej, Ibrahim Mgheit, Khaled Hasan and Hussein Ammar - were killed in the aftermath of the 2014 Arsal clashes.
According to The Daily Star, eight soldiers were taken hostage by Daesh and later killed by the group, while a ninth was executed in a separate incident, and a tenth was murdered by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham - formerly known as the Nusra Front.
Lebanese took to social media to mourn the heartbreaking loss of their servicemen
Pride and sorrow
"A sad day in the history of Lebanon, but also a day of pride in our heroes who were martyred defending it."
“There is immense and deep sadness in our hearts. But in our minds, there is pride and dignity,” Hussein Youssef, the father of a soldier, said after the bodies were identified.