Brother of captive serviceman Ibrahim Mgheit, Nizam, demanded on Tuesday the state to clarify media reports saying that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) transferred the soldiers and policemen in its captivity to Syria's Riqqa.

Mgheit urged the state to clear up the reports, expressing fear over the fate of the men.

A dog has attacked and killed a seven-year-old boy in the eastern city of Zahle, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

NNA said Michael Dany Kassouha was playing at his father's farm on Monday when the incident took place.

The Lebanese Army raided on Tuesday a jihadist post on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Ras Baalbek, attacking gunmen and causing casualties among their ranks, the military and the state-run National News Agency said.

The Airborne Regiment controlled the strategic post at al-Mukhairmeh hill at dawn, leaving three of them dead and four injured, they said.

Social Affairs Minister Rashid Derbas has said he was optimistic that Lebanon would receive a good share of pledges made by international donors at a conference that was held in Kuwait last week.

“We are optimistic. Lebanon's share is good,” Derbas told al-Liwaa newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi stressed on Tuesday the importance of separating the appointment of military personnel from other political matters to avoid a rift in the army.

“The military institution doesn't need an additional battle... it's enough what it's confronting locally and along the border,” Qazzi said in comments published in the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper.

Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun was absent from the Easter mass that was led by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday amid reports on a rift between the two over the ongoing presidential vacuum.

The mass, which was held in Bkirki, was attended by former Presidents Michel Suleiman and Amin Gemayel, who is the head of the Kataeb party.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday that “Hizbullah's actions” in Syria are “bad for the people of Syria and Lebanon,” as he noted that “those blocking” the presidential vote “should be held to public account.”

“The Prime Minister and I reviewed developments in the region, including the agreement between the P5+1 and Iran on the elements of a comprehensive plan to deal with Iran’s nuclear program that were decided last week in Lausanne, as well as the conflicts in Syria and Yemen and the future of Middle East peace,” said Blinken after meeting PM Tammam Salam in Msaitbeh.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah noted Monday that Saudi Arabia will suffer a “major defeat” in the Yemeni conflict, as he stressed that “the war on Syria” has failed.

“Saudi Arabia will suffer a major defeat that will have an impact on its domestic situation and the entire region,” said Nasrallah in an interview on Syria's state-run al-Ikhbariya news channel.

Six more Lebanese truck drivers are on their way to Lebanon, days after they were stranded on the Syrian-Jordanian border after rebels seized the Syrian side, their syndicate said on Monday.

Another eight had arrived in Lebanon on Sunday.

Security forces succeeded in thwarting an attempt to smuggle 3.5 tons of cannabis from Lebanon to Libya, the anti-drug bureau announced in a statement on Monday.

The drugs were transported from Lebanon to a ship, called Mare Ta Queen, which was docked outside of Lebanon's regional waters.