Nine Killed, Nine Wounded in Syrian Airstrike near Arsal
Nine Syrians were killed and nine wounded on Saturday in Syrian regime airstrikes near the Bekaa town of Arsal, reported the National News Agency.
It said that the airstrikes targeted Syrian refugee gatherings in the forestland between Ras Baalbek and Arsal.
The wounded, including women and children, have since been taken to Universal Hospital in Baalbek for treatment.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese military source told Agence France Presse that the bodies of six Syrians killed near the border with Lebanon were transported into the country on Saturday, along with nine injured people.
The source could not confirm the cause of the casualties in Syria, but an injured woman told an AFP photographer that the Syrian air force had carried out a strike.
"Six bodies and nine injured people were brought into Lebanon at around 1:30 pm (1030 GMT) on a pick-up truck," the source said on condition of anonymity.
"They crossed the border at the Tufail crossing" in eastern Lebanon, he said.
An injured woman in her early 30s, speaking also on condition of anonymity, said: "We were targeted by an air strike while we were making our way from Syria to Lebanon."
At least two children were among the injured, the photographer said.
Several of them were taken to Arsal for treatment, while others were transported to nearby Baalbek, AFP said.
Arsal, which lies 12 kilometers from the border with Syria, has been used as a conduit for weapons and rebels to enter Syria, while also serving as a refuge for people fleeing the conflict.
It has repeatedly come under shelling from Syria.
The last air raid in Arsal took place in June, with President Michel Suleiman urging Syria to respect Lebanon's sovereignty.
Other border areas in the north and east have also been struck by frequent cross-border shelling and clashes, while the Syrian regime has told Lebanon to better control its porous border to prevent the smuggling of fighters and arms.
The repeated violations prompted Suleiman to file a memorandum to the United Nations and Arab League.
Lebanon is sharply divided over the war in Syria and Arsal is a particular flashpoint as refugees from the uprising and fighters and smugglers hostile to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad traverse the border.
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