Syrian troops exchange fire with Lebanese army, armed groups in northeast Lebanon

Syrian troops exchanged fire with Lebanese soldiers and armed groups in northeast Lebanon overnight and into Monday in a new round of clashes along the border.

There have been frictions along the mountainous frontier in the months since opposition forces toppled Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Tehran and Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, and installed their own institutions and army.

Late on Sunday, Syria’s defense ministry accused Hezbollah of crossing into Syrian territory and kidnapping and killing three members of Syria’s new army.

Hezbollah denied any involvement. A Lebanese security source told Reuters the three Syrian soldiers had crossed into Lebanese territory first and were killed by armed members of a tribe in northeastern Lebanon who feared their town was under attack.

In retaliation for their deaths, Syrian troops shelled Lebanese border towns overnight, according to the Syrian defense ministry and the Lebanese army. Residents of the town of al-Qasr, less than one kilometer from the border, told Reuters they fled further inland to escape the bombardment.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he ordered the army to respond to sources of fire from northern and eastern borders with Syria, according to a statement by his office. Aoun said the state would not allow clashes along the border to continue.

Lebanon’s army said in a statement on Monday that it had handed over the bodies of the three killed Syrians to Syrian authorities, and that it had responded to fire from Syrian territory and sent reinforcements to the border area.

Syria’s army sent a convoy of troops and several tanks to the frontier on Monday, according to a Reuters reporter along the border. Syrian troops fired into the air as they moved through towns on the way to the border.

“Large military reinforcements were brought in to reinforce positions along the Syrian-Lebanese border and prevent any breaches in the coming days,” said Maher Ziwani, the head of a Syrian army division deploying to the border.