BEIRUT, March 17. /TASS/. The Lebanese Armed Forces Command has ordered troops stationed on the Syrian border to open fire in response to the shelling of the country’s northern and eastern areas from Syria, an army representative said in a statement on Telegram.
"Early in the morning, army units began to carry out attacks on firing positions in Syria using artillery systems, mortars, and drones," the statement reads.
According to earlier reports, a shelling assault from Syria killed a child and left four civilians injured. The Lebanon 24 news outlet reported that at least 50 projectiles had exploded in northern Lebanon.
Syria TV, in turn, said that the strikes had destroyed a weapons depot belonging to a Shia militia linked to Hezbollah. According to the broadcaster, the losses that Syrian units suffered in border clashes have risen to six fighters.
The Al Nahar newspaper wrote on March 16 that a Syrian special forces unit had mistakenly entered Lebanon, coming under attack by local tribal militiamen linked to Hezbollah. As a result, three Syrian troops were killed. A source in the Syrian Interior Ministry provided a different version of the incident, blaming Hezbollah members for allegedly crossing the border into Syria, kidnapping and killing three security officers. The Hezbollah press service issued a statement denying involvement in the developments taking place on the Lebanon-Syria border.