Soldier lightly wounded by errant fire from Syria

Fighting spills across Golan border as rebels and Assad forces continue to wage battle

An IDF soldier was lightly injured in a Golan Heights army post Monday by a bullet fired during fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

An IDF spokesman said the Israeli soldier was not the target of the attack, adding that the bullet was mistakenly shot at Israeli territory from across the Syrian border.

The soldier was treated for a minor injury to his leg, Israel Radio reported.

The incident was the latest case of Israeli soldiers coming under cross border fire, as rebels and Syrian regulars fight over control of the area near the Israeli border.

Last week, several mortar shells exploded in an open area in the Israeli Golan Heights, apparently the result of inadvertent spillover from fighting in Syria, according to the IDF.

Israel responded by firing a Tamuz missile at the origin of the attack. An IDF spokesperson said the strike was successful.

Artillery from Syria has landed frequently on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights for the past week as regime and rebel forces fight over the Quneitra crossing.

On Sunday, a monitoring group said Syrian rebels have made fresh advances near the Israeli Golan Heights in Quneitra province, where 26 troops and 17 rebels were killed in battle on Saturday.

Fighting has raged in the province since August, when rebels and the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front took control of a border post.

“Rebels have since taken control of hills overlooking the border post, as well as several villages nearby, (after battles that killed) a large number of troops on both sides,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdul-Rahman said Sunday.

On Saturday, “the regime tried to take back the village of Msahra, but failed,” said Abdul-Rahman, with the fighting leaving the 43 dead on both sides.

Over the course of Saturday’s fighting, the rebels also seized a string of new hilltops.

The Observatory says the fighting around Quneitra has killed some 70 loyalists and dozens of rebels since the end of August.

For many months, rebels have sought to take full control of southern Damascus, Daraa province on the Jordan border, and Quneitra.