Lebanese Troops Shot at from Syria after Mines Found near Northern Border

A Lebanese army patrol came under gunfire from Syria on Monday as it was inspecting landmines near the border with the neighboring country, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

“It came under fire from the Syrian side of the border but no casualties were reported,” NNA said.

“The situation is calm at the moment,” it added.

Earlier in the day, the agency said “a metallic barrel and two plastic crates containing several landmines were discovered on the Lebanese bank of the Grand River in the outskirts of the Wadi Khaled border town of al-Hisheh.”

An army statement issued later on Monday said the barrel contained “a large number of anti-personnel landmines.”

The landmines were “detonated on the spot by a military expert” as Military Police launched a probe into the incident, the statement added.

Ever since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, several border areas in the North and the East have come under cross-border gunfire and shelling.

The undemarcated Lebanese-Syrian border has facilitated the flow of gunmen to and from Syria.

Y.R.