Nine Syrians were killed and nine others wounded on Saturday when Syrian fighter planes launched a strike on the eastern Lebanese Bekaa town of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The airstrike targeted Syrian refugee gatherings in the forestland between Ras Baalbek and Arsal, the report said.

Red Cross ambulances have rushed the nine bodies and the wounded, including women and children, to the Universal Hospital in Baalbek.

Arsal, 12 km from the border with Syria, has been used as a conduit for weapons and rebels entering Syria, and also serves as a refuge for people fleeing the conflict in Syrian.

Arsal has repeatedly come under shelling from Syria. The last air raid took place in June.

Other border areas in the country's north and east have also been struck by frequent cross-border shelling and stray fire from Syria, while the Syrian government has told Lebanon to better control its porous border to prevent the smuggling of fighters and arms.