Published Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Syrian aircraft fired a number of missiles towards a village in northeastern Lebanon near Ersal Wednesday morning, injuring at least 10 Syrians, witnesses cited by Lebanon's National News Agency said.
The air raid comes two days after the Lebanese army said it fired anti-aircraft guns towards Syrian warplanes over the town of Khirbet Daoud, on the outskirts of Ersal.
Monday's incident was the first time since the outbreak of the Syria's conflict three years ago that the Lebanese military took action to prevent Syrian warplanes from violating its airspace.
Security sources say that the porous border region around Ersal is used to smuggle Syrian weapons and fighters involved in the country's bloody civil war. It was unclear if the Syrians injured in Wednesday's attack were fighters or civilians.
Syrian aircraft have targeted Ersal and its outskirts at least 15 times over the past year, killing and injuring a number of people.
At least six were killed in Khirbet Daoud when a Syrian helicopter fired a missile at them on August 3, 2013 according to official sources. Some media put the figure at nine dead.
(Al-Akhbar)