Lebanon-Syria border (CNN) Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant and political organization, says it is nearly halfway through its stated goal of clearing al Qaeda-linked militants from the mountainous border between Syria and Lebanon.

But there's still a tough fight ahead, according to Hezbollah officials who took CNN on a rare tour of recaptured territory.

During a daylong visit to both Lebanese and Syrian territory, in which Hezbollah placed filming restrictions on the media but were at pains to be cooperative and hospitable, reporters were shown mountainous bases that Hezbollah officials said had been held merely a week ago by al Qaeda-linked militants, the Nusra Front, which Hezbollah says threatens Lebanon's wider security.

Hezbollah officials did not want to be quoted or give their names, but explained in a slideshow presentation briefing in a headquarters in Dahiyeh, the southern Beirut suburb they dominate, that they have already cleared 310 square kilometers (120 square miles) of territory -- about 40% of the total -- most of which is inside Syria.

The battle ahead will likely include a fight for Arsaal, a remote Lebanese town that has been home to Syrian refugees and increasingly radical Syrian rebels for years now

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