Army Arrests Nine Gunmen Infiltrating Northern Bekaa from Syria

The Lebanese army detained on Saturday nine gunmen in the northern Bekaa after infiltrating Lebanon from Syria.

According to a communique issued by the Lebanese army “a military unit arrested at a check point in Arsal and another in Brital in Baalbek nine Syrians, who tried to infiltrate into Lebanese territories.”

The statement said that the army unit seized a quantity of light arms, ammunition and hand grenades with the men.

Another Algerian man was detained for not obtaining a legal residency permit.

“The detained men were referred to the competent authorities.”

Syrians recently began fleeing the strategic Qalamoun mountain in Syria, were battles are raging.

At least 10,000 Syrian refugees fled the area towards the Lebanese towns of Arsal, Ras Baalbek and al-Fakha.

Heavy fighting was ongoing on the main highway linking Homs to the capital Damascus, in the strategic Qalamun mountain range that spreads to Lebanon where regime forces can rely on allies from Hizbulllah.

Government troops also raided the Wadi al-Mawla village in the Homs countryside on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that two soldiers and nine men were killed in the attack.

The Observatory, which relies on medics and activists for its information, said that according to unconfirmed reports a number of women were also killed when the army entered the village.

The opposition Syrian Revolution General Commission, meanwhile, spoke of a "massacre" in Wadi al-Mawla in which "entire families" were killed and homes set on fire.

The report could not be independently verified.

An estimated 120,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by Syria's civil war, which erupted after a fierce government crackdown on pro-democracy protests first held in March 2011.