The United Nations Security Council has expressed "grave concern" over the spillover of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon following repeated cross-border attacks between the two countries, Press TV reports.
The 15-member council "underscored their grave concern over repeated incidents of cross-border fire which caused death and injury among the Lebanese population, incursions, abductions and arms trafficking across the Lebanese-Syrian border, as well as other border violations," AFP reported on Thursday.
In a statement, read out by Russian Ambassador to the UN and Security Council President Vitaly Churkin, the UN body stressed the importance of respect for "Lebanon's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity."
The council called on the Lebanese people to steer clear of "any involvement in the Syrian crisis."
Deadly clashes have been reported along the Lebanese-Syrian border since the Syrian crisis erupted in March 2011.
On March 1, the Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Sharbel accused foreign-backed militants in Syria of endangering his country's security by crossing the border posing as refugees.
He also said that members of the terrorist Free Syrian Army have used Lebanon's mountainous terrain to regroup before staging attacks on Syrian forces across the border.
The Syria crisis began in mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence, and several international human rights organizations say the foreign-sponsored militants have committed war crimes.
The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.