BEIRUT — The new Syrian security forces, primarily composed of former Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters, launched around fifty shells at Lebanese border villages on Saturday, injuring eight people and killing a Syrian refugee, marking the third consecutive day of clashes between Lebanese clans and the Syrian army.

The Lebanese villages of Jarmach and Qanafez, located in the Hermel district's mountainous area, were the first to be targeted by shells fired from the adjacent Syrian region of Qoussair. Shortly after these attacks, five more shells were fired, hitting homes and wooded areas in the region around the two villages. The Syrian man was killed by a shell fired at the outskirts of the village of Qasr in Lebanon. Hermel district residents claim to have shot down a "Shaheen" surveillance drone belonging to the Syrian army.

The fighting broke out on Thursday, when Syria's new government announced the beginning of an "extensive campaign" in Hawik, a border village in Syrian territory allegedly used as part of Hezbollah's supply route and mostly inhabited by members of the Lebanese Zaaiter and Jaafar tribes. Syrian forces said the operation, which triggered an armed confrontation with local tribes, is part of a crack down on drugs and weapon smuggling.

The "clans" involved include members of the Zaiter, Jaafar, Noun, Jamal and Rachini families, Lebanese Shiite families who have long lived in the border region, where the demarcation between Syrian and Lebanese territories remains unclear.

People were kidnapped by both sides, including two HTS soldiers kidnapped by Lebanese clans in Hawik, and 16 women a children taken by HTS from a neighboring village, The New Arab reported, citing the Syrian national news agency SANA. It's unclear when the kidnapping took place, but the captives were exchanged on Thursday.

On Friday, three Lebanese were killed, and 10 injured, and one member of the new Syrian forces was killed. The deployment of Syrian forces over the border in Lebanon near the village of Qanafez spurred mobilization among Lebanese clans in the region, and families from Hermel, calling to “defend their territories.”

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What we know about the border clashes between Lebanese 'clans' and Syrian security forces

A Syrian tank destroyed with a missile

Tensions then escalated further on Saturday. Among the villages that were targeted was Safaoui, located in a strategic mountainous area opposite Hawik. The villages of Qalaat al-Sabeh, Dhikba, and Sahlat al-Maa were also targeted, in Baalbeck district. A shell was fired from Qoussair near a Lebanese Army barracks.

For the first time in the border clashes, a statement issued by the engaged Lebanese clans declared that "in defense of Lebanon, its people and border villages," its fighters had "targeted an enemy tank trying to infiltrate through our [Lebanese] borders at 1:30 p.m. today [Saturday], with a missile," claiming to have inflicted "losses on its crew, both dead and wounded."

On Saturday, residents of Haour Taala, in the Bekaa, dozens of kilometers south from where most of the clashes are taking place in Hermel district, said that they were also ready to "defend the border region" with Syria.

"We, the inhabitants of the Haour Taala district, declare ourselves ready to defend the Hermel border area and any other area where our presence is necessary to repel the aggression," they said in a statement. They add that their "participation stems from a deep conviction of the importance of protecting our land and our people from any threat posed by criminal groups who do not hesitate to resort to violence."

Unclear demarcation of the border between Lebanon and Syria

Following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, it's Lebanon ally, Hezbollah, saw its supply route largely severed, while the new Syrian authorities are actively working to dismantle whatever may remain of it. A statement from Damascus announced its military forces "are extending their control over several localities of the border belt with Lebanon after having expelled groups affiliated with the Hezbollah militia and remnants of the former regime."

"Some areas are still under Hezbollah control," a source in the new Syrian army told L'Orient-Le Jour on Friday. "That is why our men are expelling them. Some resisted, and naturally, this led to fighting."

That same day, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa agreed in a phone call to "coordinate efforts to control the situation and prevent attacks on civilians," Aoun's office said in a statement posted on X. Earlier, the clans of northern Bekaa had expressed "dismay" at their "total and unjustified abandonment" by the state, which they said left them with no other choice than to "defend Lebanon," themselves.

Reporting contributed by L'Orient Today's correspondent in the Bekaa, Sarah Abdallah.