BEIRUT: Residents of Wadi Khaled, north Lebanon, held funerals Wednesday for the three men shot and killed by the Syrian army a day earlier and called on the government to probe their deaths and provide their region with adequate protection.

The three Lebanese men – Maher Abu Zeid, from the village of Majdal, and brothers Khaled and Mohammad Abu Sakhr, from the village of Heet – were shot dead Tuesday evening by gunfire from the Syrian side of the border with north Lebanon.

During the protest that followed the mass funeral, officials in the Akkar town called on the government to provide residents with protection and to probe the circumstances surrounding the killing of the three men.

Several Akkar MPs who attended the funeral offered their condolences to the families of the three men.

President Michel Sleiman asked authorities to probe the killing of the three men during Wednesday’s Cabinet session.

The area of Wadi Khaled has witnessed various security incidents since the start of the nine-month uprising in neighboring Syria, including Syrian army incursions on several occasions. In late October, Syrian troops shot three of its citizens dead near the border of Wadi Khaled.

Some 5,000 Syrians, including deserting soldiers and opposition members, are estimated to have sought refuge in Lebanon since the anti-government protests erupted in mid-March.

Lebanon and Syria’s armies have intensified their presence along the poorly demarcated border between the two countries in a bid to control arms smuggling into Syria. The measures have impacted the flow of refugees into the country.

The U.N. estimated that 5,000 people have been killed in a crackdown by Damascus. Syria denies the claims, saying the deaths are a result of the work of “armed gangs.”