Eight wounded in drone strike on Lebanon-Syria border

A Lebanese army jeep patrols in the southern Lebanese border village of Sarada. AFP

Lebanon’s state news agency has reported that eight people were injured in a drone attack in a border village, as Syria said it responded to artillery fire from Lebanon.

Eight Syrian refugees were wounded and transported by the Lebanese Red Cross to hospitals in the north-east area of Hermel, after an “explosives-laden drone blew up” in the village of Hawsh Al Sayyed Ali, near the border with Syria, the National News Agency said.

The army sent reinforcements to the area after the sound of gunfire was heard, the agency added.

Syrian state news agency Sana, carrying a statement from an unnamed defence ministry source, said Lebanon’s Hezbollah group had launched artillery shells at Syrian army positions in the Qusayr area of Homs province, near the Lebanese border.

“Our forces immediately targeted the sources of the fire,” the statement read.

“We are in contact with the Lebanese army to evaluate the incident and stopped targeting the sources of fire” at the Lebanese army’s request after it took responsibility for “pursuing the terrorist groups responsible for targeting Syrian territory”, the statement added.

Lebanon and Syria’s defence ministers signed an agreement last month to address border security threats after clashes left 10 dead.

Earlier in March, Syria’s new authorities accused Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanese territory and killing them.

The Iran-backed group, which fought with the forces of toppled Syrian president Bashar Al Assad, denied involvement, but the ensuing cross-border clashes left seven Lebanese dead.

Lebanon is under international pressure to disarm Hezbollah and bring all weapons under state control. The group, once a dominant force in Lebanon, has been weakened by a year-long war with Israel.

Earlier this month, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun stated that “the decision has been taken” to give the state a monopoly over weapons in the country, albeit through dialogue and not force.