Lebanese Troops Deployed to Intercept Smuggling from Syria Attacked
Lebanese troops deployed to intercept smuggling across the borders with Syria were attacked by unidentified assailants before dawn Wednesday. A soldier was killed and another was wounded.
The army outpost targeted by the attack is 200 meters west of the borderline with Syria at the remote village of Quld al-Sabaa in the Hizbullah stronghold of Hermel province.
The region is a reputed smuggling trail abutting Syrian territory in the rough terrain of east Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley.
The reports said army troops responded to the sources of fire and a chase was carried out for the gunmen who withdrew further east towards Syrian territory.
It could not be determined, however, if the gunmen had managed to cross into Syria.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 of August 2006 had banned the smuggling of weapons from Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon.
It couldn’t be determined, however, if the assailants who attacked the army post on Wednesday were smugglers.
The army casualties were identified as Saadallah Khalil Yazbek, who was killed in the initial clash, and Ahmed al-Khatib, who was wounded in the early stage of the chase.
Local reporters said at least two of the gunmen were wounded in the clash with the army, but they haven’t been arrested.
The Army Command, in a communiqué, said a soldier was “martyred” and another wounded when gunmen opened fire at an army outpost in the northern sector of the Bekaa Valley.
Army units “responded to the sources of fire,” the communiqué said.
The gunmen, according to the communiqué, “escaped” and “casualties in the ranks of the attackers could not be determined.”
The Hermel Province, a reputed Hizbullah stronghold, also is home for clans that traditionally live on smuggling between Lebanon and Syria.
