Lebanese security officials say 20 Lebanese nationals were killed in the Homs Province of neighboring Syria today, after they crossed the border to join the Syrian rebels in that nation’s civil war.

With Syria’s civil war taking on an ever-more sectarian flavor, it has fueled sectarian tensions in Lebanon as well. The slain were reportedly Sunnis from the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli.

Officials say that the slain Lebanese don’t appear to have been killed in combat, but instead were captured in an ambush and were apparently summarily executed afterwards.

The closest major city to Lebanon, Homs has seen previous fighting with Lebanese citizens involved, including a top Hezbollah commander who the rebels killed along with his bodyguards, with rebels saying they had been fighting alongside the regime.

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