Beirut, Lebanon:
At least 16 insurgents from Syria's al Qaeda wing Nusra Front were killed in clashes with Shi'ite group Hezbollah in eastern Lebanon on Sunday after launching a major offensive, a source close to Hezbollah said.
Hundreds of the Sunni Muslim insurgents attacked at least 10 Hezbollah bases along a mountainous range close to the Syrian border, and killed two Hezbollah fighters, in the latest spillover of violence from the civil war next door.
"There are at least 16 dead from Nusra Front," the source said. "Fighters from Hezbollah in the Bekaa region are joining the areas where the clashes are," he added, referring to the region stretching across eastern Lebanon.
Hezbollah had issued a call on Sunday to its fighters to defend the area, the source close to Hezbollah and other security officials said. They say Nusra Front has so far failed to control any of the positions it attacked.
Earlier officials put the death toll at eight and said it was expected to rise. They said fighters from Islamic State, another insurgent group based in Syria, were also involved in the clashes but the source close to Hezbollah said only Nusra Front appeared to have taken part.
The attacks took place in a large area of territory stretching from south of the town of Baalbek up to areas close to the border town of Arsal.
The Sunni insurgents see Iran-backed Hezbollah among their chief foes. Fighters from the Lebanese group have been aiding President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war, battling Islamist groups such as Nusra Front and Islamic State which has seized tracts of land in Syria and Iraq.
Violence from Syria has often spread into Arsal and surrounding areas, where the Lebanese army has also battled insurgents.
In August Islamic State and Nusra Front fighters stormed Arsal in the worst spillover of Syria's war into its neighbour to date, killing and capturing members of the Lebanese military. They have since killed at least three of the captive soldiers and are holding an unknown number of others.
Hundreds of the Sunni Muslim insurgents attacked at least 10 Hezbollah bases along a mountainous range close to the Syrian border, and killed two Hezbollah fighters, in the latest spillover of violence from the civil war next door.
"There are at least 16 dead from Nusra Front," the source said. "Fighters from Hezbollah in the Bekaa region are joining the areas where the clashes are," he added, referring to the region stretching across eastern Lebanon.
Hezbollah had issued a call on Sunday to its fighters to defend the area, the source close to Hezbollah and other security officials said. They say Nusra Front has so far failed to control any of the positions it attacked.
Earlier officials put the death toll at eight and said it was expected to rise. They said fighters from Islamic State, another insurgent group based in Syria, were also involved in the clashes but the source close to Hezbollah said only Nusra Front appeared to have taken part.
The attacks took place in a large area of territory stretching from south of the town of Baalbek up to areas close to the border town of Arsal.
The Sunni insurgents see Iran-backed Hezbollah among their chief foes. Fighters from the Lebanese group have been aiding President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war, battling Islamist groups such as Nusra Front and Islamic State which has seized tracts of land in Syria and Iraq.
Violence from Syria has often spread into Arsal and surrounding areas, where the Lebanese army has also battled insurgents.
In August Islamic State and Nusra Front fighters stormed Arsal in the worst spillover of Syria's war into its neighbour to date, killing and capturing members of the Lebanese military. They have since killed at least three of the captive soldiers and are holding an unknown number of others.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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