Phalange Party calls for help in confronting Syria threats

The Phalange Party called on the cabinet on Monday to reach out to the international community for help in responding to Syria’s threats, following the bombing of Lebanese territories by the Syrian air force.

“The cabinet should work out with the international community on containing the Syrian threat of bombing Lebanese regions”.The party said in a statement released after the political bureau’s weekly meetings.

The statement noted: “The U.N. Security Council’s warning is a proof of the dangers threatening Lebanon”.

The party also condemned Sunday’s attack against the Sunni clerics , called on the cabinet to lay out a military plan to contain unrest-prone areas , to impose security and to prevent the appearance of gunmen.

“Strife must be avoided and such incidents encourage conflict in the country”. The party said

Syria had threatened on Thursday that its forces would fire into Lebanon if “terrorist gangs” continued to infiltrate the country.

In a letter of protest to Lebanon, the neighboring country’s foreign ministry said: “Armed terrorist gangs have infiltrated Syrian territory in large numbers from Lebanon”.

Syria bombs Lebanon

Syrian planes bombed a Lebanese border town in eastern Bekaa Valley on Monday, the first such attack during the country’s ongoing crisis, according to a Lebanese army source.

The warplanes entered 1 kilometer into Lebanese airspace and struck the town of Kerbet Younan in the Wadi al-Khayl region of Arsal, where the majority of Sunni Muslim residents support Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, and fired four rockets at a remote section of the border with Lebanon, according to Reuters.

March 14 coalition, the main opposition group in Lebanon has been calling for deploying UNIFIL peacekeeping forces along Lebanon’s border with Syria following the repeated violations by the Syrian troops. A number of Lebanese nationals along the border have either been killed or kidnapped by the Syrian forces and many Lebanese houses were destroyed, according to local media reports