Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Syria has renewed air strikes in neighboring Lebanon.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency said a Syrian Air Force
fighter-jet and attack helicopter bombed the Lebanese town of Arsal on April 3.

The agency said the fighter-jet, believed to be a MiG-21, fired an
air-to-ground missile toward a suspected Sunni rebel stronghold some 20
kilometers inside Lebanon.

“Two rockets were fired, although there were no casualties,” Arsal
Deputy Mayor Ahmed Fliti said. “There are several houses in the area where the rockets landed.”

This marked the second Syrian air strike on Lebanon in as many months. A Syrian military helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft were said to have fired
toward targets near Arsal in mid-March.

Arsal has been deemed a hub for the weapons flow to Sunni rebels in
Syria. The sources said Arsal was also targeted by the Iranian-sponsored
Hizbullah, which plays a major role in protecting the regime of Syrian
President Bashar Assad.

Sunni rebels have also tried to stop supplies from Lebanon to the Syrian
military. Hours before the Syrian Air Force strike, rebels ambushed a convoy
of trucks headed for Syria near the northern city of Tripoli.

  Ahmed Fliti, Arsal, Bashar Assad, MiG-21, Syrian Air Force bombs rebel target 20 kilometers inside Lebanon