Syrian Shells Land in Lebanese Border Village

Five Syrian shells landed near a Lebanese border town in the northeast on Wednesday, two days after Syrian air strikes along the border area, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the shells landed on the outskirts of the town of al-Qasr in Hermel district.

There was no report of casualties.

But a local security services official told Agence France Presse that "around 9:00 am, two shells and a rocket fell on the outskirts of the village of Sahlet al-Ma" that lies near al-Qasr.

The area is adjacent to Syria's Homs province, the scene of heavy fighting in recent months between rebels and regime forces.

Residents said the missiles had fallen near a stone mill.

The shelling came as President Michel Suleiman condemned Syria for carrying out the "unacceptable" air strikes on Monday.

He tasked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour with sending a message of protest to “the Syrian side so that such operations are not repeated.”

Syria denied it was responsible for the attacks.

"The information being peddled by the Lebanese, Arab and international media claiming that Syria fighter jets bombed inside Lebanese territory is baseless," a foreign ministry official told state news agency SANA.

However, a high-ranking Lebanese army official confirmed the Syrian air strikes along the border area, without saying whether they had struck inside Lebanese territory.

But a security services official on the ground told Agence France Presse that Syrian planes had fired four missiles at Arsal, where many residents back the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.