Miqati Asks Mansour to File Complaint over Syrian Fire on Border Areas

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Sunday condemned the cross-border shelling from Syria into border towns in northern Lebanon.

“We denounce the death of Lebanese citizens in incidents they have nothing to do with and we call on the relevant Syrian authorities to take the appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents,” said Miqati in a statement distributed by his office.

“I have asked the minister of foreign affairs (Adnan Mansour) to officially inform Syrian authorities of our rejection of this behavior and our demand that its recurrence be prevented,” Miqati added.

Fierce fighting erupted during the night on the Syria-Lebanon border between Syrian troops and unknown gunmen, leaving a Lebanese man dead and four wounded, a Lebanese security source told Agence France Presse on Sunday.

The violence was triggered by the death hours earlier of another Lebanese man, who was killed on Saturday in gunfire coming from the Syria side of the border near a river separating the two countries, the security source said.

Members of his clan took part in the clashes against Syrian troops during the night in the Buqayaa region of northern Lebanon, a Lebanese official told AFP.

The Syrian army used artillery, mortars and automatic weapons fired from the Syrian village of Mcherfe as they clashed with the gunmen, according to the security source, who said a Lebanese man was killed and at least four others wounded in the fighting.

He was unable to say whether the gunmen were Lebanese or Syrians opposed to the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, there have been numerous deadly clashes along the northern and eastern borders of Lebanon, usually between the Syrian army and armed Syrian or Lebanese groups backing the rebellion against the regime in Damascus.

There have also been clashes between armed groups and the Lebanese army seeking to prevent the infiltration of fighters into Lebanon.