(ap) -- The army began its operation on Saturday and has so far captured about two-thirds of the area once held by ISIS.
The army said in a statement that a Lebanese mine expert was killed and four others wounded early Tuesday when explosives left behind by the extremists went off as they dismantled them.
The Syrian army and its ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah group, have launched a simultaneous operation to clear ISis militants from the Syrian side of the border in the western Qalamoun mountain range.