Around 12 Syrian families, among them two badly wounded people, fled on Saturday to Lebanon’s border town of Wadi Khaled, after the Syrian army reportedly started shelling their own village of Tal Kalakh.
The fleeing Syrians told residents in Wadi Khaled that the Syrian army started attacking the village early Saturday.
A resident in Wadi Khaled told the German Press Agency dpa “we can hear huge blasts rocking the village of Tal Kalakh, (located five kilometers from Wadi Khaled).” One of the Syrians told dpa by phone, “Tal Kalakh is now being attacked by the Syrian army, we brought with us two wounded, but there are many more still stuck inside their houses because of the heavy shelling.” “The army is now shelling the village and will start in the afternoon their arrest raids..” the man, who did not wish to reveal his name for fear of retribution, said.
Around 1000 Syrian refugees fled to Wadi Khaled on April 28, after Syrian troops backed by tanks confronted protesters in Tal Kalakh with gunfire and tank shells.
The border between northern Lebanon and Syria is predominantly Sunni Muslim — the same sect as the Syrian protesters who have been demonstrating on a daily basis since March 15 to demand more freedoms and protest repression under the regime of President Bashar al—Assad.
Syrian Human rights activists said more than 750 civilians have been killed since the uprising started.
The United Nation’s refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs is currently working on a backup plan to deal with a possible large rise in Syrian families entering Lebanon.
