Lebanon to Protest to Arab League Over Syria War Spillover

Two Lebanese Killed as Rockets Cross the Border

Lebanese officials say that their government will officially protest to the Arab League after a flurry of fighting along the border with neighboring Syria led to the deaths of a pair of Lebanese civilians, who died in stray rocket fire.

Rockets hit in a pair of villages in northeastern Lebanon, sparking anger from officials who accused the Lebanese military of leaving the region virtually “unprotected” during the ongoing civil war next door.

The memorandum to the Arab League was reported to be protesting against cross-border fire “regardless of which party was responsible,” and it remains unclear if the rockets were fired by rebels or Syrian military forces.

Both sides have made deliberate strikes into Syria in the past few months, with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) threatening to impose regime change in Lebanon as well as Syria, while the Syrian government has targeted what it claims are rebel safehouses in Lebanon’s border area as well.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.