Unmarked Lebanese-Syrian Border Paves Way for Incursions into Lebanon
A unit from the Syrian army made a new incursion in Lebanese territories in in the area of Dawrat al-Ghazal and al-Qaa in the northern Bekaa valley, killing a Syrian man and arresting his brother, media reports said Wednesday.
The incursion took place on Tuesday as the Syrian military was chasing a group of men who escaped on motorcycles to the Lebanese side of the town of al-Douwar, they said.
The reports said that the unit entered 1.5 kilometers deep inside Lebanese territories, killing Ahmed Adel Abu Jabal and arresting his brother Ammar.
But an Internal Security Forces source told Agence France Presse that the two brothers were killed and others were arrested. A Lebanese army spokesman also stressed that the operation took place inside Syrian territories.
An Nahar quoted security sources as saying Wednesday that clashes erupted in the Syrian side of the town, forcing the residents to transport eight bodies to the Lebanese part.
Despite the alleged incursion into Lebanese territories, a Lebanese security source told al-Liwaa newspaper that the Syrian authorities have been given instructions not to cross the Lebanese border or approach it.
The source blamed the unmarked border for the “unintended incursions.”
The security situation in Lebanon is stable and there is no local or foreign decision to destabilize the country, he said.
There were also unconfirmed reports on Wednesday that two Syrian defected officers and 6 other soldiers were killed in clashes that erupted on Lebanese territories in al-Qaa.
Syrian troops have made several incursions into the town of Arsal since the beginning of October.
The incidents took place as An Nahar said that Syria will send a document to Lebanon detailing the alleged smuggling of arms. A high-ranking security source also told al-Liwaa that Damascus knows the identity of those smuggling the weapons to its territories.
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