BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Army vowed to battle “terrorism” hours after a suicide bomber killed three soldiers at a checkpoint in the east near the border with war-torn Syria.

“The army knows that it is now more than ever targeted by terrorists who want to prevent the establishment of the authority of the state and its attempts to eliminate discord,” the military said in a statement issued late on Saturday.

It came as a new security plan came into effect on Sunday aimed at quelling spillover violence from the conflict in Syria.

Lebanon’s north and east have seen clashes between those who support the rebellion against Syria’s President Bashar Assad and those who back Damascus.

The army command “will continue to fight and pursue terrorists, and is determined to implement the security plan... whatever the sacrifices,” the statement said.

Late on Saturday the three soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle at a checkpoint at Aqabet Al-Jurd in the Arsal region.

Arsal, near the border with Syria, is where residents support the rebels fighting Assad’s forces.

The town also hosts tens of thousands of Syrian refugees.

Saturday’s attack was claimed on Twitter by a shadowy group calling itself Liwa Ahrar Al-Sunna, Arabic for the Brigades of the free Muslims, which also vowed more attacks.

Hezbollah’s participation in the Syria conflict has raised sectarian tensions in Lebanon.

The Arsal bombing was the second such suicide attack targeting Lebanon’s military since an attack on Feb. 22 killed two soldiers and a civilian, again in the east of the country.