01/10/12

One Syrian was wounded and two others went missing when Syrian intelligence members opened fire on them when they were attempting to enter Lebanon via an illegal border crossing near the town of Shebaa, AFP cited an anonymous source as saying.  

The source added that it was the first time “such an incident happened in the area; knowing that the border crossing is used for smuggling material, weapons and others.”

“A number of Syrian refugees had used the [border crossing] to escape the” violence in their country that has raging for 18 months, the source was cited as saying.

The source said that the Syrian intelligence members were staging an ambush on the joint border at a point known as “Tal al-Zarqaa” located to the east of Shebaa.  

According to the source, the Syrians were coming from the Syrian town of Beit Jen along Mount Hermon.

The summit of Mount Hermon, also known as Jabal al-Shiekh, straddles the Lebanese-Syrian border. 

More than 30,000 people have died in 18 months of violence since the outbreak of a revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The United Nations puts the death toll at 20,000.