Source : Al Akhbar English
Several fighters were killed in an overnight clash between Hezbollah fighters and Syrian rebel forces in Lebanon's eastern border region with Syria, Lebanese security sources said on Sunday.
One source said 15 rebels were killed in the fighting east of the Bekaa Valley town of Baalbek, but the exact toll would not be clear until bodies could be retrieved from the remote and rugged border area. One Hezbollah fighter also died, he said.
Syria's two-year-old conflict has impacted in its smaller neighbor, with deadly fighting shaking the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli and rockets hitting the Bekaa Valley and southern Beirut.
Hezbollah, which supports President Bashar al-Assad, has sent fighters alongside his army to drive rebels from the Syrian border town of Qusayr, while Lebanese combatants, mainly Sunni, have joined the anti-Assad revolt.
The latest fighting took place near Ain el-Jaouze in a finger of Lebanese territory which extends into Syria. The sources said the rebels may have been ambushed as they set up rockets to fire into the Bekaa Valley.
The clashes came after a barrage of rockets fired from Syrian territory at Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon in recent days.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported that at least one rocket landed in Hermel Sunday, with no immediate information on damages or casualties.
Rebels have said they will carry out attacks inside Lebanon in response to Hezbollah's support for Assad's assault on Qusayr, a strategic town for rebel weapons supplies and fighters coming into Syria from Lebanon.
The United Nations said on Saturday that up to 1,500 wounded people might be trapped inside Qusayr and warned all sides that they would be held accountable for the suffering of civilians.
But Security Council diplomats said Russia blocked a council declaration of alarm over the two-week siege of Qusayr, arguing that the council had done nothing when the town was first taken over by anti-Assad fighters.
The draft statement also urged forces loyal to Assad and rebels trying to oust him "to do their utmost to avoid civilian casualties and for the Syrian Government to exercise its responsibility to protect civilians".
It appealed to Assad's government "to allow immediate, full and unimpeded access to impartial humanitarian actors, including UN agencies, to reach civilians trapped in al-Qusayr."
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius suggested on Sunday that the conference could take place in July. He said the Syrian government and the opposition must attend what he called "the last chance" for a negotiated solution.
"It's not just about getting round the table and then asking what are we going to talk about. It needs to be prepared. That is why I say that the July date would be suitable," Fabius said.
Assad has lost control of large areas of northern and eastern Syria but his forces have been fighting fierce counter-offensives in the south and center of the country, including Damascus, Deraa and Qusayr.
The uprising against Assad has killed at least 80,000 people according to UN estimates, driven 1.5 million refugees across its borders and fuelled regional sectarian tensions.
Qatar-based Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi called on Saturday for holy war against the Syrian government after intervention by Hezbollah.
(Reuters, Al-Akhbar, AFP)
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