Fighting erupted overnight, continuing into Monday, along the border between Syria and Lebanon. The conflict follows accusations from the Syrian interim government that militants from Lebanon’s Hezbollah infiltrated Syrian territory on Saturday, abducting and subsequently killing three Syrian soldiers on Lebanese soil.
According to Syria’s state-run media, citing an unnamed official from the Defense Ministry, the Syrian army responded by shelling Hezbollah positions along the border, targeting locations where Syrian soldiers were reportedly killed. In contrast, Hezbollah rejected any involvement through a statement released on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, reported that five additional Syrian soldiers lost their lives during Monday’s skirmishes. Videos spreading online and through local media depict families fleeing toward the Syrian village of Hermel amidst the artillery strikes.
Recent violence in this region marks an escalation in tensions between the Syrian military and Lebanese Shiite clans, who maintain close ties with Bashar Assad’s government. These clans, based in the Lebanese town of Al-Qasr, have been implicated in the clashes’ initial kidnappings by both Lebanese media and the observatory. However, relative calm had been restored by dawn.
Amidst these tensions, Lebanon has been striving to secure international aid to enhance funding for its military. This move is part of its larger strategy to steadily station troops along its northern and eastern borders with Syria and its southern frontier with Israel.
Both the Lebanese and Syrian armed forces have established communication channels to mitigate these hostilities. Lebanon’s military also reported the return of the bodies of the three deceased Syrian soldiers and confirmed the deployment of a significant number of Lebanese troops in the affected area.
Reports from Lebanese media noted minor skirmishes at dawn following an earlier assault on a Syrian military vehicle, though casualty figures remain uncertain. In the early hours of Monday, four Syrian journalists accompanying the Syrian army sustained minor injuries when an artillery shell fired from the Lebanese side of the border struck their position. They have blamed Hezbollah for the attack.
In a related development, senior Hezbollah lawmaker Hussein Haj Hassan, in an interview with Lebanon’s Al Jadeed television, alleged that fighters from the Syrian side crossed into Lebanese territory, attacking border villages. His comments highlight the ongoing strain in the northeastern Baalbek-Hermel province, an area heavily impacted by these clashes.
