"Opponents of the Assad government on both sides of Syria and Lebanon's border have used the Bekaa Valley as a transit corridor for arms and goods from Lebanon into Syria. It is also where wounded Syrians are fleeing into Lebanon. In recent weeks Syrian troops have crossed the border into the Bekaa region of Lebanon. Observers accuse the Syrian army of planting landmines along the border in an attempt to stem the flow of people and goods"

"Allowing the situation in Syria to deteriorate without adequate swift international intervention to bring an end to the violence has been increasing the frustration and anger of the Sunni community in the Levant region, especially Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. This could be clearly seen in northern Lebanon where Sunnis have taken up arms on their own without instructions from the traditional Sunni political leadership in the country. Observers were shocked to see hundreds of Sunni gunmen turn out to the funeral of two Sunni clerics who were killed at a Lebanese Army checkpoint last May, an incident that remains under investigation. On-and-off clashes have increased between Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second largest city and a known Sunni stronghold. Repeated Syrian army incursions into northern and eastern Lebanon that resulted in the death of few Lebanese villagers and destruction of their property have prompted the residents of these border Sunni towns to acquire arms to defend themselves after the Lebanese Army failed to come to their assistance."