Lebanon Worried about its borders Fires on Syrian Helicopters in Its Airspace

[link to mobile.nytimes.com] The Lebanese armed forces fired on Syrian aircraft that entered the country’s airspace on Monday, the first such action since they threatened last summer to attack any troops, vehicles or warplanes that violated Lebanese territory from Syria.

Security officials said that Syrian helicopters had fired four missiles at a mountainous area near the border town of Arsal, where many Syrian refugees and rebel fighters cross into Lebanon, and that the Lebanese Army had responded with antiaircraft guns. No injuries were reported, and the Syrian state news media did not immediately comment on the episode.

The Lebanese government has been under pressure to tighten its borders as Syria’s civil war worsens, deepening Lebanon’s political and sectarian divisions and leading to a rising number of car bombings, shellings and street battles.

On Sunday, the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman, said the government had accepted a $3 billion aid package for the army from Saudi Arabia, an amount believed to be larger than the country’s defen

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