Four killed in Syria-Lebanon border clashes between HTS and clans: What to know
An offensive launched by Syria along its border with Lebanon on Thursday escalated into intense clashes between Syrian forces and Lebanese armed groups, including those associated with multiple Lebanese clans.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Syria border between Lebanese clans and members of the Syrian security forces — principally made up of members of the Syrian Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) — escalated on Friday, with three dead and 10 injured on the Lebanese side and one Syrian killed as a result of the fighting.
What happened: Lebanon’s LBCI Group reported on Friday that the clashes have killed three and injured 10 more among Lebanese clans involved in the fighting. Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported that the violence killed one HTS fighter. The violence has reportedly continued into Friday, following an overnight detainee exchange at the Jusiyah border crossing, which was overseen by the Lebanese Armed Forces. According to Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet Al Mayadeen, the exchange saw the release of 16 women and children from the Syrian town of Al Aqrabiyah.
The clashes began on Thursday in the countryside of Qusayr, located in Syria’s western Homs governorate, which borders Lebanon. SANA reported that Syria’s Border Security Department (BSD) launched an operation in the border town of Hawik, a Lebanese village in Syria inhabited by the Zoaiter and Jaafar clans. The village has allegedly been used by Hezbollah as a smuggling route between Lebanon and Syria. Multiple suspects were arrested, and weapons and illicit goods were seized, SANA reported.
The offensive escalated into clashes between security forces and local armed groups, some affiliated with the inhabiting Lebanese clans. Al Mayadeen reported that the Lebanese side captured two HTS fighters, while HTS detained 14 women and children. In response to the escalation, the Lebanese army deployed reinforcements along the border.
Background: The operation came as part of a broader effort by Syria’s new government to dismantle smuggling routes and networks linked to Hezbollah operating in the border region.
SANA, citing the Homs governorate media office, reported that during the detainee exchange on Friday, BSD succeeded in freeing two individuals who had been “kidnapped by a group involved in smuggling weapons and contraband across the Syrian-Lebanese border.” In exchange for their release, HTS freed 16 women and children.
Following the events of Thursday and Friday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to congratulate him on his recent appointment to the presidency. LBCI reported that the two also discussed "efforts to secure the Lebanese-Syrian border."
Know more: Since assuming power on Dec. 8, Syria's new Islamist government — headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, former leader of HTS — has launched an extensive campaign along the country’s border with Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah-linked smuggling networks and armed groups along the largely porous 230-mile border with Lebanon.
On Jan. 3, security officials from both countries told Reuters that Syria’s new government had imposed restrictions on Lebanese citizen crossing into Syria. A Lebanese official described these measures as "temporary," attributing them to a dispute between the two countries over the alleged mistreatment of Syrians entering or leaving Lebanon by Lebanese authorities.
