Syrian troops head toward the Lebanese border Monday. (Karam Al-Masri/Reuters)
BEIRUT — The Syrian army fired rockets and artillery into northern Lebanon overnight after it said three of its soldiers were kidnapped, brought to Lebanon and killed by Hezbollah militants, in a violent escalation of simmering cross-border tensions.
Residents fled as Lebanese border towns came under attack and Syrian troops exchanged fire with local armed groups and Lebanese soldiers. Tensions across the two countries’ porous border have been brewing since Syria’s new Islamist leaders ousted Bashar al-Assad, a key ally of Hezbollah and Tehran, in December.