The American general tasked with monitoring the Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire deal on Friday praised the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) after touring a region in southern Lebanon.

Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers visited LAF soldiers in the South Litani Area, including a stop in Khiam, the US Embassy in Beirut said.

Washington brokered a truce between the Iran-backed militant group and Israeli forces that went into effect last November after a yearlong war between the two.

Jaspers was deployed to Beirut to monitor the deal as the military representative of a monitoring task force made up of the US, France, UN peacekeepers, LAF and Israeli forces. A civilian representative from the US will be appointed after the current head, Amos Hochstein, leaves his post.

“I am incredibly impressed by the professionalism and dedication of the LAF. They are working around the clock to provide security and dismantle unexploded ordnance, so Lebanese citizens can safely return home,” Jaspers said on Friday.

According to the US Embassy, the LAF has cleared over 9,800 pieces of explosive ordnance from more than 80 locations.

As part of the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces were to withdraw from occupied Lebanese lands before the LAF would take over areas, weapons depots and villages previously used by Hezbollah.