Syrian jets launched air strikes on Friday on mountainous areas in Lebanon, activists and the Lebanese National Agency reported.
The jets struck areas in the hills of Kherbet Younine near Lebanon’s north-eastern town of Arsal.
A Lebanese security source in the area said the raid targeted what is believed to be hideouts of Syrian rebels.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The Syrian aerial attacks which took place in the area of Younine also are aimed at cutting off any possible supply route to the area of Qalamoun which is adjacent to the Lebanese border,” the source said.
The Syrian government forces launched air strikes early Friday on the Syrian town of Yabroud, Syrian activist Abu Mohammed reported.
Syrian troops backed by fighters from their ally, the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, launched a wide-scale attack on the Qalamoun area, he added. Rebel fighters returned fire.
ADVERTISEMENT
In retaliation, at least two rockets from the Syrian rebel-side of the border fell on the Lebanese eastern Shiite town of Brital which is a Hezbollah stronghold. Three people were slightly wounded, according to a Lebanese security.
In recent weeks, government troops have been trying to score advances in the Qalamoun area in a bid to secure the border area against rebel movement from and into Lebanon. In February, they started a major assault on Yabroud, the last major rebel-held town in the strategic region.
A Hezbollah source in Beirut said that the land attack on Yabroud has started.
The Shiite movement, which has been fighting alongside the Syrian forces of Bashar al-Assad for the past two years, has taken “extra security measures in its areas across the capital Beirut and its strongholds near the Syrian border in anticipation for any suicide attacks,” he added.
The opposition al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front has threatened to attack Shiite areas across Lebanon if the movement continues to fight inside Syria.
Thousands of Syrians have fled Yabroud since the military launched its offensive, mostly heading towards Arsal.
The strike is the latest in a series of cross-border fire against Arsal, which has become home to thousands of Syrian refugees. In January, shells hit the town, killing several people.