TWO Lebanese army officers and a soldier have been killed in a clash with supporters of a radical Sunni Muslim sheik opposed to Hezbollah, an army statement says.
"An armed group loyal to Sheik Ahmad al-Assir attacked, for no reason, a Lebanese army checkpoint in the village of Abra" on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, it said.
"Two officers and a soldier were killed, while several others were wounded. Several military vehicles were damaged," the statement added.
The fighting erupted when Assir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the Sunni cleric had been stopped, a security source said.
"After the armed men attacked (the army) with gunfire" the army fired back, the source added.
The army vowed it "will not tolerate" the latest developments, and that it "will continue to fulfil its mandate to suppress strife".
The military will "strike back with an iron fist anyone who... spills the blood of the army", the statement added.
The clash was the latest in Lebanon in a series of Syria-related confrontations.
Though Lebanon has officially adopted a position of neutrality on the conflict in its larger neighbour, it is deeply divided into pro- and anti-Damascus camps.
Abra is home to a mosque where Assir leads the main weekly prayers on Fridays.
The sheik believes Hezbollah uses apartments in Abra to keep him under surveillance.
He also says the Lebanese army has provided cover to Hezbollah, whose members are fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's troops against rebels.
Assir was unknown until around two years ago, when he gained prominence for his opposition to Hezbollah and its ally Assad.
During Sunday's fighting, Assir distributed a video message via mobile phone addressed to his supporters.
"We are being attacked by the Lebanese army," he said, describing the military as "sectarian" and accusing it of supporting Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.
"I call on everyone... to cut off roads and to all honourable soldiers, Sunni and non-Sunni, to quit the army immediately," Assir said in the message.
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