BEIRUT, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Islamist militants withdrawing from the Lebanese border town of Arsal took captive Lebanese soldiers with them as they crossed into the border zone with Syria, militant and Lebanese security sources said on Thursday.
The army has said 22 of its soldiers are missing.
In a televised news conference, Sunni Muslim clerics mediating between the Lebanese army and the militants said the town was "almost free" of gunmen on Thursday.
(Reporting by Mariam Karouny and Tom Perry; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Alison Williams)
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