Beirut, Oct 6 (IANS) At least 16 fundamentalist gunmen from Syria and two Hezbollah fighters were killed Sunday in a clash between the two groups in east Lebanon, a security source said.

Violent clashes erupted when fundamentalist gunmen from Syria launched an attack on a Hezbollah post in the outskirts of the Bekaa town near the Lebanese-Syrian borders, Xinhua reported citing the security source.

The gunmen infiltrated to Lebanon from the Qalamoun region in Syria and clashed with Hezbollah on the outskirts of Brital which resulted in the killing of at least 16 gunmen and two Hezbollah fighters.

Hezbollah brought additional reinforcements and managed to repel the attack, while the Lebanese army announced an alert in its positions in Brital after the zone of clashes expanded to Younine in the outskirts of Baalbak, the source said.

It said that the clashes that continued for few hours resulted in the killing of Mohammad Khaled Hamze known as Abu Soheib, who is a leader in the al-Nusra Front.