'Ceasefire' agreed after 7 Lebanese killed and 52 hurt in Syria border clashes

The Lebanese health ministry says at least seven people were killed and 52 wounded in clashes on the border with Syria that erupted on Sunday night.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said five Syrian soldiers were killed during Monday’s clashes.

Clashes broke out late Sunday at the Syrian-Lebanese border, with the new authorities in Damascus accusing Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them.

A Lebanese security source told AFP that Syrian forces fired shells into Lebanon after the three security personnel were killed in the Lebanese village of Qasr by local gunmen involved in smuggling.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said the border clashes resumed on Monday following fresh Syrian shelling.

The health ministry's emergency unit said that the "developments over the last two days on the Lebanese-Syrian border led to the death of seven citizens and the injury of 52 others."

It added that six people were killed on Monday, while a 15-year-old boy died on Sunday.

Earlier Monday President Joseph Aoun said that the Lebanese Army would respond to incoming fire from neighboring Syria.

"What is happening on the eastern and northeastern borders cannot continue," Aoun said in a post on X. "I have directed the Lebanese army to respond to the source of the fire."

Aoun added that he asked Lebanon's foreign minister, who was in Brussels for a donors conference on Syria, to contact Syrian officials to resolve the problem "and prevent further escalation.”

The army announced that its units had "responded to the sources of fire with appropriate weapons" after the renewed shelling from Syrian territory, NNA reported.

It added that its units "are working to strengthen their defensive positions to stop attacks on Lebanese territory."

In a call late on Monday, Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa and his Syrian counterpart Marhaf Abu Qasra agreed to "implement a ceasefire" and prevent further escalation, the Lebanese defense ministry said.

The agreement also stipulates “enhanced coordination and cooperation between the two sides,” a statement from the Syrian Ministry of Defense said.

- 'Smuggling' operations -

The army said earlier that it had undertaken "exceptional security measures and intensive communications" since Sunday night that had led to the return of the three Syrian soldiers' bodies to authorities there.

Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morkos said one child had been killed and six other people wounded by the Syrian shelling, adding that many civilians had also been displaced in the border area.

Morkos added that Lebanon's defense minister had told a Cabinet meeting that the three Syrians killed were smugglers.

A source in Syria's defense ministry later told state news agency SANA that forces had launched a security sweep of the border areas.

"Our aim with our actions on the border is to expel Hezbollah militias from the Syrian villages and areas they use as temporary bases for smuggling and drug trafficking operations," the source said.

Earlier Monday, Syrian authorities in Homs province reported that a photographer and a journalist were wounded along the border, according to SANA.

They accused Hezbollah of "targeting them with a guided missile."

Hezbollah was a key backer of Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad before he was toppled in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels in December.

Syria's new authorities announced last month the launch of a security campaign in the border province of Homs aimed at shutting down routes used for arms and goods smuggling.

Under Assad, Syria had been a key link in Iran's anti-Israel "axis of resistance", serving as a conduit for weaponry flowing to fellow Tehran ally Hezbollah.

The new authorities in Damascus have accused Hezbollah of launching attacks, saying it was sponsoring cross-border smuggling gangs.

Speaking at a donor conference for Syria in Brussels, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said Damascus would "not tolerate any attempts to undermine Syrian sovereignty".

He accused "outlawed parties", including "some militias stationed on our borders with neighbouring countries", of posing a persistent threat to Syria's security and stability, without naming a particular group.