BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanese army helicopters have started patrolling the Lebanon-Syria border for the first time, Lebanese security officials and witnesses said Wednesday.

Air Force helicopters began over-flights along Lebanon's eastern and northern borders with Syria in an attempt to control the porous frontier and help prevent smuggling operations, said the officials. The move was expected to help meet a key requirement of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire resolution that ended 34 days of fighting between Hizbullah fighters and Israeli troops last month.

The resolution called, among other things, for U.N. peacekeepers to help the Lebanese army monitor Lebanon's sea and land borders to prevent arms shipments to Hizbullah.

A senior Lebanese military official, however, said the move was not directly related to U.N. Resolution 1701.

"This has to do with the Lebanese army taking up responsibility for controlling its own borders. We intend to prevent any kind of smuggling operations using all the means we have," he told The Associated Press.

He declined to specify how many helicopters were involved in the operation but said several were currently active in areas along the border with Syria, some on training missions, others for "logistic and observation purposes."

The Lebanese army has already beefed up its presence on the border, with up to 4,000 soldiers deployed in the area. They have set up makeshift roadblocks made of dirt and rocks to prevent access to some of the 60 major illegal smuggling routes.

Hizbullah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, had for years received its arms shipments through official border crossings with Syria. That continued for the most part even after international pressure forced Syria to end its 29-year occupation of Lebanon last year.

Earlier this month, U.N. peacekeepers also began checking security measures with the Lebanese army on Lebanon's border with Syria.

Under the cease-fire resolution, a beefed-up U.N. force of 15,000 troops is to deploy in south Lebanon to maintain the cessation of hostilities and help consolidate Lebanese army control of the Hizbullah stronghold. (AP)