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Several Syrian artillery shells exploded in northern Lebanon yesterday as battles raged between Syrian opposition fighters and government troops over control of a strategic supply route. |
At least three shells fired from inside Syria fell on Lebanon’s eastern area of Hermel, a police report said.
“One shell landed on the outskirts of the town of Al Qasr and two others in the town of Sahlat al-Maa in Hermel,” it said.
The shelling caused no casualties, but it hit the electricity network in the area, Lebanon’s official National Agency said.
Shells also hit the region of Akar in northern Lebanon for the second consecutive day, causing material damage and prompting people living in the area to flee to safety, a Lebanese police official said.
On Thursday, Syrian jets struck the outskirts of the border town of Arsal, wounding at least five people.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman condemned the attacks as “unjustified”.
“We must draw lessons from regional developments and realise the need for co-operation among all sides to keep the country away from these crises,” Suleiman said yesterday as he marked the 38th anniversary of the beginning of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
The Lebanese government has remained largely impartial in the two-year conflict in Syria, but its stance has not prevented the violence from spilling over its border.
Syria warned last month that its troops would fire into Lebanon if what it called “terrorist gangs” continued to infiltrate Syria to fight alongside the rebels.
Abu Raad, a Syrian opposition activist, said the cross-border violence occurred as Syrian government troops backed by fighters from the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah were trying to regain control of the town of Al Kussair in Syria’s central province of Homs, about 30km from the Lebanese border.
Al Kussair is crucial for both warring sides in Syria because it links a major route with the Damascus highway.
In Syria, a woman and two children were killed and 16 people injured when helicopters fired two gas bombs on the area of Sheikh Maksoud in Aleppo province, a Britain-based opposition group said.
“Our report is based on accounts from doctors and victims who were admitted into the hospital suffering from suffocation, vomiting and eye problems after the bombs were fired,” said Rami Abdel-Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Rebels traded accusations with the government over an alleged chemical attack on March 19 on the village of Khan al-Assal in northern Syria.
The government at the time requested a UN inquiry into the incident. However, it later rejected the chemical weapons team proposed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon, which was to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in Homs province as well.
Clashes raged yesterday in the northern province of Idlib, where at least 18 people were killed in a strike by government jets.
The observatory said 50 people were wounded in the raid, which targeted the town of Saraqeb.
Rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad have in recent months reported major gains in the north although the conflict seems to have settled into a stalemate.
In related developments, four Italian journalists kidnapped in Syria more than a week ago have been freed, the Ansa news agency quoted Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti as saying.
The journalists - three freelancers and a reporter working for the Italian public broadcaster RAI - were abducted April 4 in northern Syria.
