ISIL Claims Rocket Attack on al-Labweh as Syrian Air Raid Targets Arsal
Three rockets fired from Syria struck residential neighborhoods in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh on Tuesday, in an attack that was swiftly claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, which prompted some residents to block the road to nearby Arsal and assault passersby.
The "Damascus Prefecture" of the Qaida-inspired ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack on its Twitter account and published pictures of rockets and masked fighters.
“Five Katyusha rockets were fired at the strongholds of the 'party of Satan' (Hizbullah) in the Lebanese area of al-Labweh in retaliation to the party's attack on the Sunnis in (Syria's) Yabrud,” the group said.
Earlier on Tuesday, state-run National News Agency quoted al-Labweh municipal chief Ramez Amhaz as saying that the rockets caused material damage but no casualties.
“Youssef al-Itawi's house was among those damaged,” NNA said.
Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said "Youssef Itawi was hit by a vehicle as he was escaping the rockets."
In the wake of the shelling, "the al-Labweh-Arsal road was blocked in protest and gunmen appeared in the area as a number of al-Labweh residents smashed two cars belonging to residents from Arsal," the radio station said.
However, the road was quickly reopened, according to al-Labweh mayor Amhaz, who said his town was not targeted by rockets from Syria but rather by mortar shells that were fired from Arsal's outskirts.
He warned Arsal's residents that the situation might go out of control should such attacks continue.
Agence France Presse said gunmen quickly deployed in the area, only meters away from a Lebanese Army checkpoint.
"Some of those who gathered in the location were carrying batons with which they started to smash the glass of every car traveling from and to Arsal,” AFP said.
Angry protesters told reporters that the rockets were fired from “the Wadi al-Raayan area in Arsal's outskirts, not Syrian territory.”
Later on Tuesday, a Syrian military helicopter fired three missiles on Arsal's Wadi al-Arnab area and two on Wadi al-Raayan, causing no casualties, according to NNA.
The al-Labweh road is the only route that links the border town of Arsal to its Lebanese surroundings. Residents of the town often complain that they are suffering a “siege” by the neighboring towns, accusing the army of contributing to it through its checkpoints that are heavily deployed at Arsal's entrances.
On Monday, four people were wounded when eight rockets fired from Syria hit the Bekaa town of Brital and its surroundings, in an attack that was claimed by the Qaida-inspired al-Nusra Front in Lebanon.
“With God's help, the heroes of al-Nusra Front in Lebanon fired several Grad rockets on the dens of the 'party of Satan' (Hizbullah), in retaliation to the continued massacres of the party of Iran,” the Front said, calling on what it called “our people in Lebanon” to be “patient.”
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