Lebanon and Syria agree to ceasefire after two days of border clashes

Lebanese and Syrian defense officials have reached an agreement for a ceasefire to halt two days of clashes along the border, Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reports.

The agreement also stipulates “enhanced coordination and cooperation between the two sides,” the statement from the Syrian Ministry of Defense says.

Lebanon’s president earlier today ordered troops to retaliate against the source of gunfire from the Syrian side of the border after more deadly fighting erupted overnight along the frontier. Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported that seven Lebanese citizens were killed and another 52 injured in the clashes, including a 4-year-old girl.

The fighting happened after Syria’s interim government accused operatives from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group of crossing into Syria on Saturday, abducting three soldiers and killing them on Lebanese soil. Hezbollah denies involvement and some other reports pointed to local clans in the border region that are not directly affiliated with Hezbollah but have been involved in cross-border smuggling.

It was the most serious cross-border fighting since the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December.