TNA Staff
The New Arab / 17 March, 2025
Syrian and Lebanese forces rushed to the border area to prevent further escalation, after three Syrian security forces were killed on Sunday evening.
A tense calm returned to the Syria-Lebanon border on Monday following the killing of three Syrian soldiers by Lebanese groups in the town of Qasr, triggering clashes that extended into the early hours of the morning.
Exchanges of fire were also reported between Syrian and Lebanese security forces, who had bolstered their presence on the border following the killings.
Syria’s defence ministry accused members of Hezbollah of crossing into Syria and abducting the three security personnel, who were later killed. Hezbollah has denied involvement.
“Yesterday, after two Syrians were killed and another injured on the Lebanese-Syrian border in the vicinity of the Qasr-Hermel area, the wounded man was transferred to a hospital for treatment and soon passed away,” the Lebanese army said in a statement.
“Following this, the army implemented exceptional security measures and conducted intensive communications from Sunday night to Monday morning until the early hours of the morning, resulting in the three bodies being handed over to the Syrian side,” the statement added.
The army also indicated that it was coordinating with its Syrian counterparts to prevent further clashes.
Qasr Mayor Mohammad Zaiter told The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby al-Jadeed, that calm had largely returned to the area after the clashes in which a child had been killed and a number of people sustained minor injuries.
A journalist and a photographer were also injured on the Lebanese-Syrian border near the Zaita dam in a rocket attack, according to Syrian news agency SANA.
A parliamentary source from Hezbollah reiterated the group’s denial of involvement to Al-Araby al-Jadeed.
“Hezbollah did not lead any Syrian forces into Lebanese territory, nor did it liquidate anyone. It reiterates its assertion that it had no connection to the events that took place on the border yesterday.”
Syria’s army sent a convoy of troops and several tanks to the frontier on Monday, according to a Reuters reporter along the border. Syrian troops fired into the air as they moved through towns on the way to the border.
“Large military reinforcements were brought in to reinforce positions along the Syrian-Lebanese border and prevent any breaches in the coming days,” said Maher Ziwani, the head of a Syrian army division deploying to the border.
The clashes come a month after days of fighting in the same area between Syria’s new security forces and militias aligned with deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
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.
The country’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 linked to Hezbollah.
