BEIRUT: Syrian Embassy guards clashed with Syrian Kurds protesting in Beirut over the weekend, leaving at least one activist wounded, the man told local media.

Kadar Biri told An-Nahar newspaper in remarks published Monday that four men “often seen at the Syrian Embassy in Beirut and speaking in a Syrian accent" attacked a crowd of Kurdish activists who were protesting against the Syrian government outside the embassy in Hamra Sunday.

Biri said the protesters were dispersed by Lebanese riot police and minutes later were chased down Hamra Street by embassy guards, armed with guns and batons.

He said the guards beat up the demonstrators, including him, with guns and sticks.

Lebanese authorities refused to comment on the incident Monday.

Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat Monday denounced the violence in Hamra and the ongoing cross-border incursions by the Syrian army into the Bekaa town of Arsal, saying “the problem seems to be growing bigger.”

Pro- and anti-Syrian regime protests have taken place in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon, particularly in the north, since pro-reform rallies broke out in Syria in March.

The United Nations says than 3,000 people have been killed in the Syrian government crackdown on the demonstrations since they began.