BEIRUT — A Lebanese soldier and five ISIS militants were killed Thursday in clashes on the outskirts of a northeastern border town, a Lebanese Army statement said.

The statement said that the clashes ignited at 3:30 a.m., after the army carried out a preemptive strike against a large group of extremists on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek, only three kilometers away from army bases in the town.

The army then stormed into ISIS fortified bases, killing at least five of the group’s fighters and wounding several others. The army also destroyed some of ISIS military equipment and vehicles. Some militants managed to get away.

The statement added that ISIS then tried sending in reinforcements to infiltrate the area, prompting the army to respond with heavy gun fire from ground and air.

A security source had earlier told The Daily Star that the military, accompanied by helicopters, managed to retake control of a hilltop in the area known as Tallet 46 (Hill 46), inflicting further heavy losses on the extremist group, which had previously occupied the hill.

The death of 23-year-old soldier Mohammad Houssam al-Sayed al-Sebsebi from the town of Bibnine in the northern district of Akkar was later announced in a separate statement. The army said four others were admitted to nearby hospitals for sustaining critical wounds.

There are an estimated 3,000 militants in the northeastern mountain chain, most of whom are either affiliated with ISIS, which is mainly deployed near Ras Baalbek, or with the Nusra Front, which operates further south, across from Arsal.