By: Rakan al-Fakih
Baalbek: Two Lebanese shepherds were wounded on the Lebanese-Syrian border in the eastern Bekaa Wednesday, according to security and medical sources.A local official in the town of Ersal told The Daily Star that the two shepherds had been shot by a group of Syrian soldiers who had crossed the border into Lebanese territory.
- In this Dec. 8, 2011 photo, a wounded Syrian refugee man, who fled the violence in Homs, sits around a stove during an interview with Reuters in a temporary home at the eastern Bekaa town of Arsal. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
“Syrian troops entered Lebanese territory today and opened fire in the [nearby] village of Khirbat Daoud in Ersal,” said Bakr Hujairi, a member of Ersal’s municipal council.
Hujairi identified those wounded as Khaled and Mohammad Fleeti, adding that they had been taken to a hospital in Chtaura. They were said to be in stable condition.
Syria has planted land mines along its border with Lebanon and tightened border security in a bid to prevent weapons smuggling and to stop the flow of refugees fleeing the unrest.
Separately, a man was wounded in Ersal when a hand grenade was tossed at his residence Wednesday.
Sources in the village said that the target of the attack had been a native of Hermel who was married to a woman from Ersal, and was suspected of working for the Syrian regime’s security apparatus.
“The man was suspected of passing on information to the Syrians,” a resident told The Daily Star.
Several hours later eight Syrians, who were believed to have been wounded by Syrian army troops cracking down on popular unrest, entered Lebanon for treatment.
“Eight Syrians were injured by gunfire in the bordering Syrian town of Qusayr before fleeing into Lebanon where they were quickly hospitalized,” said a medical source.
“The injured, including a child and a 16-year-old girl, were brought into Ersal and Al-Qaa and the Lebanese Red Cross took them to hospitals in Akkar,” the source added.
At least three people have been killed in recent months as a result of incidents of violence along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Source: Daily Star
