4 dead as gunmen, Lebanon forces clash near Syria

Gunmen killed four people in eastern Lebanon on Saturday, including two soldiers, after clashes erupted following the arrest of a Syrian accused of belonging to a jihadist group.

The clashes prompted the Lebanese army to issue a statement pledging "decisive and firm" action to prevent the Syrian conflict from spilling over into Lebanon.

The violence began after troops detained Imad Ahmed Jumaa, a Syrian man accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front in the Arsal region of eastern Lebanon by the Syrian border.

The army said in a statement that it had detained Jumaa at noon, and security sources and local residents said unidentified gunmen began to surround local army checkpoints shortly afterwards.

Exchanges of fire between the gunmen and troops broke out, and the militants entered the town of Arsal, storming a police post and killing two residents who tried to block their attack, security sources and Lebanon's National News Agency said.

NNA later said two Lebanese soldiers were killed in attacks on checkpoints, and the army acknowledged "deaths and injuries" among its ranks, declining to provide further details.

The army warned of the seriousness of the situation in Arsal, a predominantly Sunni Muslim town where support for the uprising across the border in Syria runs strong.

"The army will not allow any party to transfer the battle from Syria to its territory (Lebanon)," the statement said.

"The army will be decisive and firm in its response and will not remain silent as foreigners try to turn our land into a field for crime and terrorism, murder and kidnapping."

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki backed the statement, urging all Lebanese actors to respect a 2012 declaration that seeks to maintain the country's neutrality in the face of regional conflicts.

"As the violence spills over to Syria's neighbors, including from violent extremists, we urge all parties in Lebanon to respect the Lebanese government's policy of dissociation from regional conflicts, as stated in the Baabda Declaration," she said.

The United States "strongly condemns the attack," Psaki adding, vowing "strong support" from Washington for Lebanon's state institutions.

Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam condemned the Arsal assault as a "flagrant attack on the Lebanese state and the Lebanese armed forces."

"The Lebanese government is dealing with these developments in a firm manner," he said, calling on "all political forces to exercise wisdom and responsibility and to make every effort to protect Lebanon and distance it from the dangers around it."

'Gunmen holding police'The army also confirmed reports that gunmen had briefly captured soldiers who its forces were able to later free.

Local media reported that the gunmen were holding a number of policemen, but there was no immediate confirmation.

The army deployed additional forces, including two helicopters, to the region in the wake of the ongoing clashes.

Arsal, which is hosting tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, has frequently been the scene of conflict with Lebanese security forces.

Syria's army has also launched regular air raids and shelled the area around Arsal, saying it is targeting rebels who have holed up in the mountainous region surrounding the border town.

Tensions skyrocketed there earlier this year with a major influx of refugees and fighters after Syrian forces backed by members of the allied Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement recaptured most of the Qalamun region, just across the border from Arsal.

Al-Nusra Front has been fighting alongside Syrian rebel groups against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, and engaged in fierce clashes with regime and Hezbollah forces in Qalamun overnight, a monitoring group said on Saturday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based NGO, said at least 50 members of Al-Nusra and a second jihadist group, the Islamic State, were killed in the fighting.

Despite ideological similarities, Al Nusra and the Islamic State have battled each other in northern Syria, but their forces have continued to cooperate against the regime elsewhere, including in Qalamun.

Though Syrian regime forces recaptured most of Qalamun earlier this year, small pockets of opposition fighters remain in the mountainous border area.

Violence from Syria's conflict has regularly spilled over into tiny Lebanon, which currently hosts more than one million Syrian refugees.

The border area has been particularly volatile, although bomb attacks claimed by groups fighting in Syria or linked to factions based there have also targeted other regions, including the capital Beirut.

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