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Soldiers killed by Lebanon car bomb | Soldiers killed by Lebanon car bomb |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A suicide car bomber has attacked a Lebanese army checkpoint near the Syrian border, killing three soldiers, reports say. | |
Four more soldiers were reported wounded in the blast, on the outskirts of the town of Arsal. | |
Tension has been high since the Syrian army captured Yabroud, a strategic town just over the border, a fortnight ago. | |
Arsal is home to thousands of Syrian refugees but also Syrian rebels and their Lebanese allies. | |
Syrian forces now threaten key rebel supply routes from eastern Lebanon. | |
Fighters from Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, which backs Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, are also based in Arsal. | |
Lebanon's state news agency reported that an extremist Sunni group, the Ahrar al-Sunna in Baalbek Brigade, said it was behind Saturday's bombing. | |
The blast came hours after forces loyal to President Assad routed rebels from two Syrian villages, Flita and Ras Maara, just over the border. | |
Some Sunni groups have accused Lebanese soldiers of being close to Hezbollah, which has been heavily involved in fighting against rebels in western Syria. | |
The attack came hours after a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in which he said he was protecting Lebanon by fighting Sunni militants in Syria. | |
On Thursday, the Lebanese army killed a suspected Sunni bomb-maker, Sami al-Atrash, as they raided his house in Arsal. On Saturday, the army made further raids in the town, where they set up checkpoints earlier this month. | |
The Syrian government launched an offensive in November 2013 to push rebel fighters out of the mountainous Qalamoun border area. | |
During the bombardment of Yabroud, much of the town's population of 40,000 fled into Lebanon, joining the tens of thousands who had already fled the area. | |
The Syrian conflict has deepened sectarian rivalry in Lebanon, which suffered its own civil war from 1975 to 1990. | |
Are you in the area? Did you witness the explosion? You can send us your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line "Lebanon". Please include your contact details. | Are you in the area? Did you witness the explosion? You can send us your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line "Lebanon". Please include your contact details. |
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