Lebanon's army said on Thursday that it had seized almost 250kg of explosives being smuggled over the border from Syria.
Four bombs and eight detonators were seized in addition to the stash of “highly explosive” TNT, the army said. Electrical wires were also found.
The smugglers allegedly fled back into Syria after an army patrol arrived on the scene. The incident occurred while the army unit was patrolling Lebanon's north-eastern borders.
The army did not reveal any findings on who the smugglers were or what they were planning. It said that “follow-up and co-ordination are under way to apprehend those involved”.
Smuggling over the border, especially involving Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, has been one of the Syrian government's chief security concerns since taking power in 2024. Hezbollah was an ally of the fallen regime of Bashar Al Assad.
The army did not say whether Hezbollah was suspected of involvement in Thursday's incident. It came a day after Syrian security personnel arrested three members of an alleged Hezbollah cell and dismantled rocket launchers in their possession.
With tensions high, Reuters reported on Thursday that Syria and Hezbollah had held a secret meeting in Turkey in an attempt to calm matters. It cited six sources from Syria, Lebanon and the US.
One of the Syrian officials said both sides said they held no hostility towards one another, and that Syria assured Hezbollah that it would not intervene militarily in Lebanon to disarm the group – an idea considered by US President Donald Trump.
Turkey and Syria both denied the meeting had taken place. Turkish officials said the reports were “entirely unfounded”. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said: “These claims are false. No such meeting took place.”
Lebanon and Syria have sought to forge security ties since new governments took power in the countries in 2024 and 2025. The relationship had previously been fraught, and Syria occupied Lebanon until 2005.
The National revealed last month that Lebanese and Syrian security authorities had jointly uncovered a cell accused of plotting attacks inside Syria, using phone taps and shared intelligence.
