Rockets Hit Bekaa Towns as Tension Rises after Yabrud Fall

Three rockets landed on Monday on residential areas of the eastern town of al-Labweh from the hills overlooking the village of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency reported.

LBCI TV said one person was injured in the rocket attack, which was followed by an assault by another three rockets on the outskirts of the town of Arsal.

Later on Monday, the army issued a statement saying “a rocket landed in the town of al-Labweh as three other rockets hit near the towns of al-Labweh and al-Nabi Othman.”

The army said the rockets were fired from across the border with Syria, leaving a citizen wounded and causing material damage.

“Army forces staged patrols in the targeted areas as a military expert inspected the places where the rockets exploded,” the statement added.

Since Sunday's fall of Yabrud, a frontier town and a strategic smuggling hub for the rebels trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, Lebanon has been on edge.

Syrian rebels have been fleeing into Arsal, a Sunni town, and have vowed to avenge the fall of Yabrud, which was a major gain for Syrian government troops and their Hizbullah allies.

The retaliation came as early as Sunday night when a suicide bomber blew up his explosives in the town of al-Nabi Othman, a predominantly Shiite town whose residents support Hizbullah.

On Monday, Lebanese troops came across a Grand Cherokee on the Fakha-Ras Baalbek road and blew it up, firing a rocket-propelled grenade.

The army said in a communique that the car was to be used in a terrorist bombing.

Al-Labweh, a Shiite town that supports Hizbullah, has been coming under almost daily attacks by Syrian rebels or fighters supporting them.

Arsal and its outskirts have also continuously come under air raids by Syrian government warplanes, which over the weekend chased the fleeing rebels into Lebanon.