The Syrian civil war continued to spill over inside Lebanon Sunday when Hezbollah forces killed at least four Lebanese soldiers and two others after an attack on a military checkpoint near Sidon by Salafist anti-Hezbollah forces loyal to Sheikh Ahmed Assir.
Assir’s fighters used RPGs and set on fire at least one armored personnel carrier, according to the Beirut Daily Star.
Assir has urged Sunni members of the army to desert. He said in his weekly sermon Friday, “The Army, especially Sunni personnel and officers, should not carry out any mission which harms their Sunni brothers in Lebanon and for which they would be held accountable on the Day of Judgment.”
Sunday’s battle took place after the arrest of one of Assir’s followers, a day after the sheikh agreed to a two-month truce in exchange for the release by police of three followers.
In Tripoli, south of Sidon, clashes have escalated between Sunni Muslim and pro-Syrian and Hezbollah fighters.