LEBANON / SYRIA - Lebanon - Troops at scene after Syrian rebels kill 10 / Thousands flee as Lebanese
(7 Aug 2014) 4:3 Ambulances, troops at scene after Syrian rebels kill 10, capture others 2016198 AP TELEVISION Arsal - 3 Aug 2014 1. Ambulance with siren on leaving Arsal, armoured personnel carrier (APC) and ambulance on road in background, AUDIO: siren 2. Plumes of smoke rising due to shelling 3. Lebanese army trucks at entrance to Arsal 4. Lebanese army troops on road leading up to Arsal Thousands flee as Lebanese battle Syrian militants 2016288 AP TELEVISION Arsal - 4 Aug 2014 5. Plumes of smoke rising on hillside, AUDIO: Explosions 6. People walking along road with belongings 7. family in back of truck 8. Convoy of Lebanese army vehicles driving along road More than 1,000 Syrian refugees flee Lebanon, head back to Syrian border crossing 2016902 AP TELEVISION Masnaa - 7 Aug 2014 9. Queue of cars and trucks waiting to move to Syria 10. Mid of Syrian refugees on truck 11. Queue of cars and trucks waiting to move to Syria 12. Syrian refugees families inside trucks 13. Mid of Syrian refugees on truck STORYLINE: Syrian rebels killed 10 Lebanese troops and likely captured over a dozen more in an ongoing raid on a Lebanese border town, Lebanon's military chief said on August 3rd. Ambulances, armoured personnel vehicles and Lebanese troops were seen on the road leading up to Arsal. The Lebanese military have sealed off the area preventing reporters from approaching the town. The capture raised fears Lebanon could become further entangled in the Syrian civil war and could worsen already-brewing sectarian tensions. 13 members of the country's security forces were taken hostage after fighters from the Nusra Front, seized three security compounds in Arsal on August 2nd. The fate of tens of thousands of residents and Syrian refugees living in Arsal was unclear. The Nusra Front is one of the most powerful groups fighting to overthrow the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad. *** Thousands of Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees on August 4th fled from a Lebanese border town under attack by militants from neighbouring Syria. Residents fleeing Arsal said they made use of a relative lull between midnight and the morning of August 4th to pack up and leave. Heavy fighting then erupted and black smoke could be seen billowing over the town, which the Lebanese army sealed off to media. So far, at least 11 Lebanese troops have been killed and 13 soldiers are missing in the Arsal clashes, which broke out on Saturday after Syrian militants made a cross-border raid and overran army positions in the area. The fighting in Arsal, a predominantly Sunni town surrounded by Shiite villages, could worsen already-brewing sectarian tensions in Lebanon. The clashes are the most serious spillover of violence from Syria's civil war into Lebanon, compounding fears that Lebanon is fast becoming a new front in the conflict, now in its third year. *** On August 7th hundreds of Syrian refugees who had taken refuge in Arsal in Lebanon were seen leaving in vehicles packed with belongings, apparently heading back to Syria. Up to 150 cars packed with Syrian refugees were seen leaving Arsal. A security official in the eastern Bekaa Valley said arrangements were made for them to cross back into Syria through the Masnaa border crossing. Earlier, the Red Cross said it evacuated 42 wounded people - most of them women and children. The fighting trapped tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees in Arsal and ratcheted up tensions inside Lebanon between supporters and opponents of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
