Mortar shells kill 1, injure 1 in Lebanon

Cross-border mortar shells fired by foreign-backed militants in Syria have killed one, injured one and caused material damage near the eastern Lebanese town of Hermel.

On Monday, three mortar shells targeted residential neighborhoods in Bdaita, on the outskirts of Hermel in the northern Bekaa region, AFP reported.

A security official said that Loulou Awwad, a 17-year old girl, was killed and another woman was wounded by the shells.

The area is a stronghold of the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah.

The mortar shells hit the area after Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah gave a speech in which he pledged victory in Syria to his supporters.

On Sunday, the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) said four mortars slammed into the heart of Hermel, which is situated about 100 kilometers (62 miles) northeast of the capital, Beirut.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated that the security situation in Lebanon was deteriorating due to the ongoing turmoil in the border region.

“Lebanon security and stability are being threatened. We are preparing a memo to hand out to the Arab League on the violations… on our borders. Last week, two Lebanese civilians lost their lives due to shelling from armed Syrian opposition,” the Lebanese foreign minister said.

In another incident on Sunday, two rockets hit the southern district of Zahyieh in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. According to Lebanese security sources, several people were wounded in the incident and some vehicles and homes were also damaged.

Lebanon’s caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who visited at the site of the rocket attack, said it was an “act of sabotage.”

“The rockets were fired from a secluded area, southeast of the scene of the incident,” he stated.

In an interview recently broadcast on Turkish television, Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.

“If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control… the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” the Syrian president stated.