Syrian Air Raids Target Eastern Town of Arsal
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Syrian jets carried out an airstrike on Wednesday on the outskirts of the eastern border town of Arsal, media reports said.
Ten people were wounded in the airstrike, eyewitnesses told the state-run National News Agecny.
A person from al-Kalkoush family was critically wounded in the raid as all of the injured people were submitted into a nearby hospital for treatment.
LBCI reported that a woman from al-Qadi family, who hails from Syria, succumbed to her wounds shortly after she was submitted into the hospital.
On Monday, the Lebanese army used its air defense systems against Syrian helicopters after they carried out a raid inside Lebanese territory.
It was the first time the Lebanese army has responded to Syrian attacks on its territory, which have multiplied as the conflict in its eastern neighbor has intensified.
"In accordance with the orders of the army command, anti-aircraft guns were fired in the direction of Syrian helicopters that bombed Khirbet Daoud near Arsal," in the area near the Syrian border, a source told Agence France Presse.
"It is the first time that the Lebanese army has used its anti-aircraft defense systems" to respond to Syrian raids, the source added.
Lebanese officials reported no casualties from the Syrian raid. It was not clear whether the retaliatory fire had hit the Syrian aircraft.
Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said the Lebanese army was acting on the government's orders.
The army "has clear and sufficient orders from the political authorities to respond" to such attacks, and "what happened today falls within that context".
"We respond to attacks that reach Lebanese territory," Ghosn said, adding that "since the outbreak of events in Syria, the Lebanese army, deployed along the borders, has been in full capacity and readiness to respond to anything that might affect the unity of the country".
The Lebanese army has in the past threatened to respond to cross-border fire from Syria but has not previously done so.
On June 12, it issued a rare warning to the Syrian government, saying it would respond "immediately" to any new "violation" after a raid by the army on the Arsal area, a hub of support for the rebels, which is also home to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.
But it had not previously carried out its threat, despite repeated spillovers from the fighting over the border.
The anti-aircraft fire came a day after President Michel Suleiman announced that Saudi Arabia had pledged $3 billion for the under-equipped army to buy French weapons.
Saudi Arabia is a key supporter of the Syrian uprising. Hizbullah, which controls much of the border region apart from the mainly Sunni Arsal district, is a leading ally of the Syrian regime.
01 January 2014, 12:34
36
The Syrians know well that the LAF is weak and can't confront every type of intimidation properly and probably this is an answer to our army's response to the previous raid, that they can do anything.
Let's hope that the day soon will come when our army will be capable of facing all types of threats and protect all our citizens, sunnis, shias, christians and all.
01 January 2014, 13:09
116
@sanctify, we shouldn't fire on our allies, fighting the same enemy as we do. The Takfiris.
01 January 2014, 18:28
64
assad is Hizbiran's ally, not lebanon's, buy urself a history book, there's some nice sales on amazon but i dont think they deliver in ur village...
01 January 2014, 19:27
65
lol- Mystic, you Iranian servant and slave-- go live in Iran you traitor to your country!
01 January 2014, 20:23
64
Mystic - they are your allies. They occupied Lebanon and treated us like garbage. The Lebanese government adopted neutrality as a policy. Any group engaged in the fight in Syria is an outlaw and on top of them HA.
01 January 2014, 12:58
77
"The anti-aircraft fire came a day after President Michel Suleiman announced that Saudi Arabia had pledged $3 billion for the under-equipped army to buy French weapons."
Even Naharnet sees a connection between the Saudi pledge and this first round of anti-aircraft fire. The fact of the matter is that Arsal is a support post for the terrorists in Syria ... The LAF knows this full well.
The LAF also knows that many of their soldiers have been killed and injured by the residents of Arsal and the terrorists that re-supply there. We could say their heart is not really in firing on Syrian aircraft.
01 January 2014, 13:04
136
Mark my words, the commander that ordered the warning shots on Syrian airplanes, someone on the top army command HQ, got him by the balls. It wont happend again anytime soon.
01 January 2014, 13:06
147
It was President Sulaiman that ordered it, to an Anti air brigade. But now the Generals knows what he is doing, and it wont be repeated. All this just to please Saudi and their 3 billion blood dollars.
01 January 2014, 13:13
146
"We respond to attacks that reach Lebanese territory," Ghosn said, adding that "since the outbreak of events in Syria, the Lebanese army, deployed along the borders, has been in full capacity and readiness to respond to anything that might affect the unity of the country".
All you do is divide Lebanese, the LAF and lick Saudi boots. That is why this criminal act, should never be continued. Our glorious army are much needed elsewhere.
01 January 2014, 13:33
812
Are you on duty today? Did you celebrate the New Year in Nabatiyeh?
01 January 2014, 16:12
69
Ice man.
Mystic is so excited to have our sovereignty breached again by the evil assad forces.. He hated it when we showed a bit of sovereignty.
Now that we didnt answer, he feels good again.
01 January 2014, 21:41
66
This clown mystic is so out of touch- he is exactly like the so called resistance that have dragged Lebanon into the abyss of despair. The scary thing is that just like we think we are right, they think they are too. Go figure.
01 January 2014, 13:32
106
Iran already made offers to give LAF weapons from their Armory, including rockets that could strike Israel, but ofcourse the M14 had to block that offer.
I would love to see LAF take the money and weapons from both sides, i can't see any harm in that. Always benefit the army, but Sulaiman doesn't want that, and only wants to lick off the dirt under the saudi boots.
01 January 2014, 16:16
77
Iran exports nothing to lebanon nothing but strife and war. Their regime is a regime of constant war and revolution. And they are trying to export their model to glorious Lebanon through their local milicia.
Dont expect anything from this medieval excuse of a regime.
01 January 2014, 18:25
62
what iranian armory ? bad copies of t72? they can keep them...
Rockets ? HA have them so the day they'll fell lebanese they can give them to the LAF even if they're useless with patriot3, mim hawks, iron dome and hetz missiles...
01 January 2014, 19:34
66
Actually Iran has better equipment than you'd expect, why do you think Israel/Saudi is so terrified & Paranoid?
01 January 2014, 20:27
74
Mystic - please spare us. M8 has been in government for 3 years. Accepting a gift to any government entity from foreign sources is their perogative and noone else.
01 January 2014, 21:50
73
Iran has agendas to ensnare Lebanon and make it another religious state with all women wearing ghastly headscarves and men with beards. We do not want to go back to the 15th century and become a puppet state. So any offer from them comes with expectations,. I would rather make a deal with the devil than with this scum and filth called Iran.
01 January 2014, 22:27
32
Mystic: Please if any country wants to fight Israel let them be Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria... who either have the man power, money generated from natural resources and/or the backing of super powers to engage in a meaningful war that has the chance to succeed. I am not in favor of any wars or making any suggestions here, but we do have Palestinians who would like to go back to their rightful land. After all that has happened to Lebanon, you want to put its people in this predicament, really? Or is it your goal to oust another 1/3 of the Lebanese population and bring in your rich cousins?
01 January 2014, 20:04
63
Yalla ya Hasan, order your good guys to defend Lebanon. Oops! Forgot that Hizb aren't interested in defending the occupied Lebanese territories. Only in occupying. 7alél majzariton these scum.
01 January 2014, 20:06
83
Yes, and Iran's weapons are being bought with Lebanese tax-payers' money. You're just the type of brainless sheeple that is in denial that you're speaking of. Go baaa somewhere back in your country and get the hell out of mine. Scuzbag.
01 January 2014, 21:21
62
and still our brave little M8ers to cheer a foreign army to bomb lebanon... and they pretend to want sovereignty and indepencdance? LOL
oh! i forgot, for them lebanon is just a syrian province....
01 January 2014, 23:21
61
praising the killing of lebanese that are against hezbis... typical M8 racism and criminal minds....
01 January 2014, 23:43
60
FT the lebanese taxpayer cannot afford to foot the bill for crappy iranian weapons whose true purpose is to cement lebanon as part of the axis of "resistance". especially since it is generally M14'ers who pay taxes in this country.
01 January 2014, 23:44
60
furthermore, your argument against the KSA grant is partisan by nature, you don't like it because it's a spit in the face of Aoun and his treacherous allies that think they can isolate lebanon from the rest of the arab world. The KSA, Qatar, UAE, are and forever will be our allies. don't like it go hit your head on the wall.
02 January 2014, 00:36
63
ft showing his real priorities, lebanese sovereignty coming last...
Of course neither will he mention the circumstances in which they got killed nor giving proofs involving the 'hujairi gang'...
02 January 2014, 01:03
62
nice to see FT pretending to respect the army... but who would shoot at them with no hesitation if they ask hezbis to disarm LOL
hypocrisy at its best from a FPM doggy dog....
02 January 2014, 01:29
15
This area is filled with extremists. Unfortunately this is part of our country. It is not Syria regime's job to bomb them. They have bigger fish to fry with terrorists in their own country. HA has their own extremists/assassins... HA oversteps its boundaries. Both sides on here do. It is funny how nobody admits the dirt their side does as if they are clean. Myself I want the Syrian regime to win. I also want HA to disarm, and Syria to stay out of Lebanon as a power broker. Can we just respect each other as neighbors?
02 January 2014, 01:36
61
FT must really be a military expert.
After wanting us to get useless Mig21, he's proposing us iranian weapons.
Lets have a look at iranian military technology :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwHn9i6Ncoc
02 January 2014, 03:32
61
FT is provided two choices:
1) 3 billion dollars worth of french equipment free of charge
2) buying iranian equipment using funds from a gov. that is already struggling to provide basic needs
he goes for option two. really, is it worth trying to convince such a specimen?
02 January 2014, 03:32
62
we need a small, well trained, well equipped army, like the finnish one. go and read about the winter war.
Iran has nothing that could interest us, beside maybe its ballistic program that was actually developed by north koreans but israel wont tolerate it and bomb us or create a new civil war.
We need force multiplier weapons, NVG, hi-tech stuff that Iran doesn't have except on photoshop...
Concerning the LAF soldiers, i read different things about Hmeid and our soldiers lynched far from the municipality, but if u're right justice must be done.
02 January 2014, 13:24
50
FT,
Saudi's point was to strengthen M14 and solidify (re-solidify?) itself as an ally in the eyes of Lebanese. Also, akeed there was some sort of deal with Pres. Suleiman to show the SAA some teeth. These conditions are not something I am against, so I don't care in the first place. Funny how you cry about KSA usurping our political sovereignty and you have nothing to say ABOUT THE UN-ELECTED ARMED MILITIA THAT CONTROLS OUR GOVERNMENT
02 January 2014, 01:38
61
oh! funny to see FT's anger these days at the uncertainty of his future... it make every M8ers go crazy and more collaborationists than ever... the bigger the lies they spread the better they believe people will gob them... but they figure that everyone is as dumb as they are... their mistake! LOL
too bad for them... bad days lie ahead for taitors of lebanese sovereignty and democracy....
02 January 2014, 02:12
62
Btw FT i cant see in ur video evidence of hujairis' involvement in the killings...
02 January 2014, 03:00
60
look at the guy who said he is "against democracy" talking about reactionary. you are a mental midget FT with an intelligence quotient close to that of a snail.
02 January 2014, 07:15
60
@Flamethrower: I am appalled by your use of filthy language. This is a news site for heavens sake!!!! We come here to learn and grow. You should be ashamed of yourselves. I thought you would be a different person in 2014!!!!
02 January 2014, 07:17
60
frank my dear shia friend.... please don't advocate violence and horror!
02 January 2014, 13:00
50
Nobody said you were.... your maturity, tolerance for others, love for Lebanon, support for the resistance among other great qualities led me to believe you are.
02 January 2014, 12:55
51
Anyone who supports these Syrian air raids are traitors.
First of which Hassan Nasrallah who should supposedly be protecting our borders from "foreign aggressions" and breach of sovereignty. Except that this pro-syrian traitor does not recognise Lebanon as a sovereign country and puts Syria and Iran ahead of it.
This is unacceptable and I look forward to hanging the idiots and traitors above who support it.
There is no possible excuse for legitimising Syrian breach of our sovereignty.
If you want to deal with Arsal, then send the army in and clean it up. Or send Hezbollah if they dare...
02 January 2014, 15:17
01
Oh that is terrifying, some random guy on Naharnet says he will see me hanged. However would you do the execution yourself? I would like to see you try.
02 January 2014, 15:18
01
Btw, i see Syria as the real allies, not someone we should attack, when they are doing us a favor bombing takfiris in Arsal.
02 January 2014, 15:29
10
Oh I would do it with pleasure !
And Syrians are allies... just not Bashar. Bashar is an ennemy to the state of Lebanon and the Lebanese people as well as his partners in Lebanon.
They are guilty of butchering the Lebanese people, robbing our economy, arming terrorists and ordering assassinations conducted by your KEZB.
I don't call for attacking Bashar. But supporting him is unacceptable and reason for high treason for which you and your likes will pay the price.
