Shi'ite movement Hezbollah says at least two of its fighters have been killed along with "dozens" of gunmen in Syria-Lebanon border clashes.
A Hezbollah official speaking on condition of anonymity has told AFP news agency the clashes occurred on Sunday in Syrian territory, just over the border from Lebanon.
But a Hezbollah source on the ground and local residents say the clashes erupted outside the town of Nabi Sbat, in Lebanese territory, after gunmen from Syria attacked Hezbollah posts.
"Hezbollah posts in the mountains around Nabi Sbat, east of Baalbek, were attacked by armed groups who came from Qalamun" in Syria, the Hezbollah source in the region said.
"Hezbollah returned fire, inflicting heavy losses among the attackers."
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Lebanon's official National News Agency also reported the clashes took place in Lebanon, saying they began after an attack launched by gunmen from Asaal al-Ward in Syria's Qalamun province.
Residents from Nabi Sbat who fled the fighting say they saw Hezbollah convoys picking up several wounded fighters from the group during the clashes.
Lebanon's border with Syria is not officially defined and much of it is porous and unpatrolled, with local residents, smugglers and others moving freely across it.
Hezbollah maintains several military posts along inaccessible parts of the border, and it rarely gives official details on clashes with jihadists or other fighters.
The fighting could be heard in the city of Baalbek, several kilometres away.
Lebanese army forces were also seen deploying towards the area where the clashes were taking place.
The clashes come two months after jihadists from the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate al-Nusra Front attacked Lebanese security forces in Arsal, which also lies on the Syrian border in eastern Lebanon.
