Lebanese media say 8 wounded as Syria responds to artillery fire blamed on Hezbollah

Lebanese official media says eight people were wounded in a drone attack in a border village, as Syria said it responded to artillery fire from Lebanon.

Eight Syrian refugees were wounded and taken to the hospital in the northeast area of Hermel after an “explosives-laden drone blew up” in the border village of Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali, Lebanon’s National News Agency says.

The Lebanese army sent reinforcements “after gunfire was heard,” the report adds.

Syrian state news agency SANA, carrying a statement from an unnamed defense ministry source, says Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group had launched artillery shells at Syrian army positions in the Qusayr area of Homs province, near the Lebanese border.

“Our forces immediately targeted the sources of the fire,” the statement says.

“We are in contact with the Lebanese army to evaluate the incident and stopped targeting the sources of fire” at the Lebanese army’s request, the statement adds.

Lebanon and Syria’s defense ministers signed an agreement last month to address border security threats after clashes left 10 dead.

Earlier in March, Syria’s new authorities accused Hezbollah of abducting three soldiers into Lebanese territory and killing them.

The Iran-backed terror group, which fought alongside the forces of toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, denied involvement, but the ensuing cross-border clashes left seven Lebanese dead.

Lebanon and Syria share a porous 205-mile (330-kilometer) frontier that is notorious for the smuggling of goods, people and weapons.