BEIRUT: Lebanese troops conducted patrols overnight in villages along the northern border with Syria amid a swirl of rumors concerning a possible impending Syrian military incursion into Wadi Khaled.

The state-run National News Agency said several Armored Personnel Carriers and military trucks headed toward the border villages of Knaisseh and Hnaider around 10:30 p.m. Thursday to take up new positions.

The military measures were welcomed by residents of the region, Future bloc MP Moeen Merhebi said Friday.

“Akkar residents, lawmakers and notables vowed to stand by the Army in defending the nation and its sovereignty,” Merhebi said.

Foreign and local media reports have stated that armed defectors from the Syrian army have taken refuge in the Wadi Khaled region of north Lebanon, where they might be planning raids into Syria.

The Lebanese army's deployment in the north comes after lawmakers from the region expressed mounting concerns that Syria is planning a military incursion into Lebanon.

Future bloc MP Atef Majdalani said Friday the decision to dispatch Lebanese troops to the northern border was the result of repeated demands for troop deployment amid mounting concerns that Syria intends to enter Wadi Khaled.

“We have received information that the Syrian army is preparing to carry out an operation inside Lebanese territory,” Majdalani told the Kataeb-run Voice of Lebanon radio station.

Such an attack, should it take place, would be a “serious violation,” he said. “It would be tantamount to an act of war.”

Majdalani's statements echo fears voiced by fellow lawmakers.

MP Ahmad Fatfat, a leading member of Saad Hariri’s Future parliamentary bloc, had warned of an impending Syrian attack on Wadi Khaled.

The two major political coalitions in Lebanon, March 14 and March 8, have been engaged in a dispute over the proper course of action for the Lebanese army in the wake of the Syrian uprising and the ongoing smuggling of arms from Lebanon to opposition groups in Syria.

March 14 accuses March 8 of trying to convince the army to undertake actions on behalf of the embattled Syrian regime, such as rounding up Syrian army defectors who have taken refuge in Lebanon.

March 8 denies the allegations and claims that March 14 wants the army to turn a blind eye to the smuggling of weapons from Lebanon to opposition groups in Syria.