Lebanon expelled around 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally via informal routes, a Lebanese security official and a war monitor said.
Many senior Syrian officials and people close to the former ruling family of Bashar Assad fled the country to neighboring Lebanon after Assad’s regime was toppled on Dec 8.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based organization with sources in Syria, and the Lebanese security official said Syrian military personnel of various ranks had been sent back via Lebanon’s northern Arida crossing.
SOHR and the security official said the returnees were detained by Syria’s new ruling authorities after crossing the border.
The new administration has been undertaking a major security crackdown in recent days on what they say are “remnants” of the Assad regime. Several of the cities and towns concerned, including in Homs and Tartous provinces, are near the porous border with Lebanon.
The Lebanese security official said the Syrian officers and soldiers were found in a truck in the northern coastal city of Jbeil after an inspection by local officials.
Lebanese and Syrian government officials did not immediately respond to written requests for comment on the incident.
Reuters reported that they included Rifaat Assad, an uncle of Assad charged in Switzerland with war crimes over the bloody suppression of a revolt in 1982.
Earlier this month, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said top Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban had flown out of Beirut after entering Lebanon legally. In an interview with Al Arabiya, Mawlawi said other Syrian officials had entered Lebanon illegally and were being pursued.
Lebanon returns 70 officers and soldiers to Syria, security official says
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Lebanon returns 70 officers and soldiers to Syria, security official says
- Many senior Syrian officials and people close to Bashar Assad have fled the country to Lebanon
Syrian forces foil attempt to smuggle rockets and missiles into Lebanon
- Vehicle carrying the weapons seized during raid in Al-Jarajir, a village in Rif Dimashq Governorate, Interior Ministry says
LONDON: Security forces in the Syrian Arab Republic foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons into Lebanon on Monday.
An Interior Ministry official said officers intercepted and seized a vehicle during a raid in Al-Jarajir village, in the An-Nabek District of the Rif Dimashq Governorate. It contained nine Konkurs guided missiles, 68 rocket-propelled grenade charges, two 107 mm rockets, and five boxes of machine gun ammunition.
The weapons were destined for Lebanon, the official confirmed. Internal Security Directorate units in Al-Qusayr, Homs and An-Nabek took part in the raid on the smugglers’ hideout in Al-Jarajir, where the weapons were stored. They also discovered Russian-made ammunition magazines and a scope for a gun.
The operation was part of the efforts by the Interior Ministry to combat smuggling, secure Syria’s borders and maintain national security and stability, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
Last month, Syrian security forces prevented an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of rocket-propelled grenade shells into Lebanon from the Zabadani region of the Damascus countryside.
