A Lebanese security official and war monitor said the country on Saturday expelled no fewer than 70 Syrian officers and soldiers, returning them to Syria after they crossed into the country illegally via informal routes.
It was gathered that many senior Syrian officials and people close to the former ruling family of Bashar al-Assad fled the country to neighbouring Lebanon after Assad’s regime was toppled on December 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.
According to SOHR and the security official, the returnees were detained by Syria’s new ruling authorities after crossing the border.
The new administration is said to have been undertaking a major security crackdown in recent days on what they described 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.
According to the Lebanese security official, 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.
Lebanese Interior Minister, Bassam Mawlawi, earlier this month, said top Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban had flown out of Beirut after entering Lebanon legally.
