The United States on Wednesday condemned a cross-border Syrian helicopter gunship attack on an eastern Lebanese town, calling it an "unacceptable provocation which risked dragging Lebanon into war.
"The United States condemns in the strongest terms today's helicopter attack by the Syrian regime on the Lebanese town of Arsal," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"We fully condemn all attacks originating from Syria against Lebanese territory, particularly the targeting of civilians, and call for all parties to respect the stability, sovereignty and independence of Lebanon."
Lebanon's army warned it would hit back against any new attacks from Syria after the gunship fired two rockets on the center of Arsal, wounding one person.
In a rare warning against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the army said Lebanese troops "took the necessary defensive measures to respond immediately to any similar violations."
Psaki would not be drawn on the warning from the Lebanese army, but said the US was "reiterating our call for all parties in Lebanon to respect Lebanon's disassociation policy."
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