Nearly 8,000 Syrian refugees and fighters from Lebanon arrived in central Syria Thursday as part of a ceasefire deal that also saw five Hezbollah fighters released, a monitor and the Shiite militant group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said the refugees and fighters from Al-Qaeda's former Syrian branch arrived in bus convoys to a region held by rebel and jihadists.

In return, the jihadist group released five fighters from Syria regime ally Hezbollah, the Observatory and Hezbollah's "War Media" outlet said.

The swap was part of a broader ceasefire deal announced last week between the two sides which ended six days of fighting in the mountainous Jurud Arsal region in the restive border area between Lebanon and Syria.

"The operation is now over," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"All five convoys of buses carrying fighters from Fateh al-Sham Front and (Syrian) civilians have reached the area" in central Hama province held by rebels and jihadists, he said.

As each convoy reached its destination, the jihadist group -- once known as Al-Nusra Front and later as Fateh al-Sham Front -- released one Hezbollah fighter, the Lebanese movement's "War Media" and the Observatory said.

A source close to Hezbollah said the five fighters had been captured by the former Al-Qaeda affiliate during clashes in Aleppo province.

An AFP correspondent in Al-Saan in Hama province, said dozens of trucks transported masked fighters who carried light weapons as well as Syrian civilian refugees, including women and children.

Hideout for militants 
source:AFP