8 Troops Hurt in Clashes between Army, Gunmen in Arsal as Syrian Jets Shell Area
Armed clashes broke out on Wednesday between the Lebanese army and gunmen in the eastern Bekaa region of Arsal, announced the military in a statement.
It said that eight soldiers were wounded in an ambush in al-Rahwa region on the outskirts of Arsal.
The army has since responded to the sources of fire while Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said that Syrian jets shelled the Ras Wadi Daher area where the gunmen were deployed.
The Free Sunnis of Baalbek Brigades claimed responsibility for the ambush.
The National News Agency meanwhile had said that the gunmen were Syrian.
LBCI television earlier reported that two of the gunmen were wounded, adding that they have since been arrested.
It revealed that the ambush was set up when the army was raiding a warehouse in al-Rahwa.
Later on Wednesday, NNA said an army patrol arrested four Syrians in al-Rahwa.
Separately, three rockets fired from Arsal's outskirts landed on al-Nabi Othman's plain and al-Labweh in northern Bekaa in the evening, according to LBCI TV.
The army on Monday arrested a Syrian rebel commander in the border town of Arsal, which is witnessing along with other Bekaa towns an unprecedented security plan.
On the same day, three Syrians were arrested at a house in Arsal and one of them was carrying a suicide vest containing 3.5 kilos of explosives.
Ever since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011, Arsal has served as a key conduit for refugees, rebels and wounded people fleeing strife-torn Syria.
M.T./Y.R.
D.A.
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