BEIRUT (Reuters) - Eight Lebanese soldiers who have been in Islamic State captivity since 2014 are almost certainly dead, the head of Lebanon’s internal security agency said on Sunday.

General Abbas Ibrahim said the army had retrieved the remains of six soldiers so far and was digging for two others, although it still needed to conduct DNA tests to confirm the identities.

Islamic State has held nine Lebanese soldiers captive since 2014, when it briefly overran the border town of Arsal in northeast Lebanon with other militants - one of the worst spillovers of Syria’s war. The fate of the ninth soldier remains unknown.