Three Lebanese soldiers were wounded on Friday in a roadside bombing that hit their vehicle near the Syrian border, the military said.

The Guidance Directorate said in a statement that "the army's Special Forces' fifth regiment patrol was targeted by a roadside bombing on the outskirts of Arsal, wounding three soldiers."

The statement added "unknown gunmen opened fire at another patrol accompanying a military expert to inspect the explosion site."

The National News Agency reported that a colonel, a sergeant and a soldier were wounded in the blast.

Extremist gunmen from al-Qaida-linked "al-Nusra Front" and the Islamic State (IS) are entrenched on the outskirts of Arsal. They engaged in a bloody fighting with the Lebanese army in August and took at least 28 hostages from the military and police.

Al-Nusra Front later executed two soldiers, while the IS beheaded another one.

The army has been heavily deployed since in Arsal and repelled several infiltration attempts.

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