6 killed in Lebanon-Syria border clashes as Hezbollah denies role: What we know
Clashes erupted along the Lebanon-Syria border after three Syrian security personnel were reportedly killed, prompting shelling by Syrian forces and retaliatory fire from the Lebanese military.
BEIRUT — Deadly clashes between Lebanese tribal members and Syrian security forces along the border have left three Syrians and three Lebanese people, including a child, dead in the latest bout of violence on the Lebanese-Syrian border since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, highlighting the fragile security situation in the area.
Lebanon’s military said Monday it handed over to Syria’s authorities the bodies of the three Syrians who were killed in the clashes.
The violence erupted Sunday afternoon in the Baalbeck-Hermel governorate in northeast Lebanon near the border with Syria after the killing of three Syrian security forces prompted the Syrian army to heavily shell Lebanese border towns and villages.
In a Monday statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces said it responded to the source of fire from Syria “with appropriate weapons,” adding that heavy reinforcements were deployed to the border area, a known Hezbollah stronghold.
