Syrian jets strike Lebanon border, no reported casualties

Strike by forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad comes days after warning would strike at rebels taking refuge across the border; U.S. describes fire as ‘significant escalation’ Syrian air force jets fired four rockets at a remote section of the border with Lebanon on Monday, security sources said, four days after Damascus warned it may strike at Syrian rebels taking refuge across the frontier. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air strike near the Bekaa Valley town of Arsal, whose Sunni Muslim residents mainly support Syrian rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. Lebanon has a policy of “dissociation” from the two-year civil war in Syria but officials say they feel their country is increasingly at risk of being dragged into a conflict that the United Nations says has killed 70,000 Syrians. Syria’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that a “large number” of militants had crossed Lebanon’s northern border into the Syrian town of Tel Kalakh last week.Full story Haaretz

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