Lebanese army warns Syria over missile fire, several injured

A Syrian helicopter fired three missiles Wednesday on a Lebanese border town whose majority Sunni residents back the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, a security official said, adding several people were wounded, reported AFP.

“A Syrian helicopter launched three missiles on Arsal, one of which landed near the town square. Several people were hurt,” the Lebanese official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

In a statement, the Lebanese army confirmed that Syrian air forces launched two rockets at Arsal. They added that one person was injured in the attack while it also caused physical damage to the town’s infrastructure.

Dozens of wounded people, mainly anti-Assad fighters from Qusayr in central Syria, have arrived in Arsal in the past week, after the regime and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah took over the town on June 5, according to AFP.

Wednesday’s helicopter attack was the first on Arsal’s town center since the Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011, AFP reported, although Syria’s army and rebels have frequently fired into Lebanon in recent months.

Arsal is a village and municipality situated 124 kilometers north east of Beirut, in the Baalbek District of the Beqaa Governorate in Lebanon.

[Developing story]