BAALBEK, Lebanon: Shells fired from war-torn Syria killed eight people, including five children, when they rained down on the Lebanese border town of Arsal yesterday, Lebanese officials said.
The attack was the deadliest suffered by Arsal ever since the outbreak of war in neighbouring Syria in 2011.
The deaths came as at least 20 rockets and shells launched from Syria hit border areas in the eastern Lebanon Bekaa Valley, which has seen frequent violence related to the Syrian conflict.
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman called on the army to “protect” border villages from such attacks.
“The toll from a cross-border shelling attack against Arsal from Syria has risen to eight, after a woman died from her wounds,” said a security source.
Local official Ahmad Al Hojairi said that five of the dead were children, three of them from one family, and that all of them had been identified except for a little girl.
The Lebanese army said: “Between 10:45 am (0845 GMT) and noon (1000 GMT), the areas of Ras Baalbek, Al-Kawakh, Al-Buweida, Masharia Al Qaa, Arsal and Hermel were hit by 20 rockets and shells launched from Syria.”AFP
