adminLabweh – Lebanese troops shelled militant positions in the mountains around the town of Arsal on the Syrian border yesterday, as fierce fighting raged there for a third day.An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of the town said soldiers were firing mortar shells into the mountains and the sound of heavy machine gun fire could also be heard in the area.
Thick smoke rose from Arsal, reportedly after a petrol station in the town was set ablaze.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, several hundred people fled the town during a lull in the fighting. They packed into pick-up trucks and cars to drive out of the region, where militants began fighting the Lebanese army on Saturday afternoon.
The clashes began after the arrest of a Syrian man accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch, Al-Nusra Front. Following his arrest, gunmen surrounded army posts before opening fire, sparking clashes that have killed at least 10 soldiers.
Another 13 soldiers are missing, along with an unspecified number of policeman, with Lebanon’s army chief General Jean Kahwaji saying on Sunday that the troops might have been taken hostage. – AFP.
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