At least four Hezbollah fighters were killed overnight Wednesday during clashes with jihadists on the outskirts of a Lebanese border village in the Bekaa Valley, security sources told The Daily Star Thursday.
Fierce clashes erupted between resistance fighters and rebel groups a few kilometers away from the village of Ras Baalbek, near a Hezbollah position in the region.
A total of 17 people were either killed or wounded but only four men were identified as Lebanese resistance fighters, the source said.
The incident would have remained under wraps if the two ambulances did not breakdown on their way to a Bekaa hospital, a source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.
Syrian troops, backed by Hezbollah, have been battling rebel and jihadist groups along the border with Lebanon to root out opposition fighters who have infiltrated the eastern frontier.
Last month, the Lebanese Army engaged in fierce clashes with militants from Syria for five days in which dozens of Islamist fighters and at least 19 soldiers were killed in the border town of Arsal, a few kilometers from Ras Baalbek.
The militants captured at least 30 soldiers and policemen during the fighting. Nusra Front has so far released seven while ISIS has beheaded two Army troops in an attempt to pressure the government to negotiate.
