Syrian Warplane Fires Rocket on Arsal

A Syrian warplane fired a rocket on Tuesday on the border town of Arsal in the eastern mountain belt without causing any injuries.

"Syrian warplanes shelled the uninhabited Aqabat al- Mobayyideh region in Arsal,” MTV said.

The same source noted that Arsal residents and rescue teams could not reach the mentioned area as Syrian warplanes continued to fly over the region.

Two men were killed on Monday in a mine blast in Syria, where they had planned to join the fight against the regime, security sources told Agence France Presse.

The men from Arsal were headed to Qara, a rebel-held Syrian town near the frontier where loyalist troops have launched a major offensive in recent days.

Arsal has a long shared border with Syria, stretching along much of Damascus province and part of Homs province.

Smugglers have long taken their goods across the porous border, and since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in March 2011, weapons and fighters have moved across the border too.

The caretaker Ministry of Social Affairs said 1,700 Syrian families, most of them from Qara, had fled across the border to Arsal since Friday, and declared a state of emergency.