Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel on Sunday said that Lebanon should seek the protection of the U.N. Security Council in the face of the “foreign assault” on the Bekaa border town of Arsal, where a number of troops and civilians have been killed by gunmen who infiltrated from Syria.

“We offer our condolences to the families of the army's martyrs and we hope what happened will be a lesson for the Lebanese. This assault on Lebanon must be stopped and all measures must be taken to that end,” Gemayel said in remarks to MTV.

Fierce clashes between the army and armed groups in the eastern border region of Arsal continued into a second day on Sunday as the army announced that 10 of its troops have been killed and 25 others wounded.

In the evening, a humanitarian truce was reportedly reached between the army and the gunmen following efforts by the Muslim Scholars Committee.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji on Sunday held a rare press conference to announce that the attacks on the army in Arsal were “premeditated,” noting that the clashes with armed groups did not erupt because of the arrest of top militant Imad Ahmed Jomaa.

“Gunmen launched an attack against the army after troops arrested Jomaa and the assault was prepared. The army then waged an offensive to break the siege that was imposed on its posts,” Qahwaji said.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stressed Sunday that the way out from the current confrontation in Arsal should be through a “political solution,” as Tripoli MP Mohammed Kabbara of the Mustaqbal bloc described the incidents in the Bekaa border town as a “Syrian-Iranian conspiracy.”

“The solution in Arsal is political and we must protect our northern Bekaa from the volcano's lava and we must preserve coexistence,” Rifi said in remarks to MTV.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed on Sunday that Lebanon is facing the danger of terrorism given the clashes between the army and the al-Nusra Front gunmen in the eastern region of Arsal near the border with Syria.

He said during a tour of the Deir Qoubel and Choueifat regions: "Hizbullah's fighting in Syria did not bring about the threat of terrorism to Lebanon."

The United States strongly condemned on Sunday the al-Nusra Front’s attack on the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in the eastern region of Arsal, where at least seven soldiers were killed and some Internal Security Forces (ISF) members were briefly held hostage, said the U.S. Department of State in a statement.

“We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims’ families and wish a full recovery to those who were wounded,” it added.

A number of Internal Security Forces were forced to defect by al-Nusra Front members on Sunday after being taken captive by the group, said LBCI television.

Twenty security forces members were shown announcing their defection “from the army and Hizbullah” in a video uploaded to Youtube.

Three members of the same Syrian family were killed on Sunday in a traffic accident at the Masnaa border-crossing, reported LBCI television.

It said that the accident took place between a Hyundai vehicle and a passenger van that had lost control of its brakes.

Clashes erupted overnight on Saturday between the army and masked gunmen in the northern city of Tripoli, reported the National News Agency on Sunday.

It said that fierce fighting broke out when gunmen opened fire at army positions on Syria Street, the Starco, Brad al-Bisar, al-Ghoraba, Talaat al-Omari, and al-Qobbeh areas.

Abou Ahmed Jomaa, the men who fueled Saturday's clashes in the Bekaa town of Arsal, hails form the Syrian border town of Qusayr and has confessed upon his arrest to belonging to the al-Qaida-inspired al-Nusra Front.

Jomaa was detained at an army checkpoint on Saturday, and he was referred to relevant authorities for further investigation.