Lebanon deported around 70 Syrian officers and soldiers on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they crossed into Lebanon illegally through informal routes, according to a Lebanese security official and a war monitoring group.
The Syrian personnel, including individuals of various ranks, were apprehended in Lebanon’s northern coastal city of Jbeil after being found in a truck during an inspection by local authorities. The group was subsequently sent back via the Arida crossing on Lebanon’s northern border.
The return follows the recent influx of senior Syrian officials and relatives of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, who fled Syria after the regime’s fall on December 8. Syrian military officials and close associates of the Assad family sought refuge in Lebanon amid the regime’s internal power struggles.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based monitoring group, reported that the returnees were detained by Syria’s new ruling authorities after crossing the border. The new administration has recently launched a major security crackdown targeting what they label as “remnants” of the Assad regime, particularly in areas close to the porous Lebanon-Syria border, including Homs and Tartous provinces.
Lebanese and Syrian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident. Earlier reports indicated that Rifaat al-Assad, a former Syrian vice president, had recently flown from Beirut to Dubai. Rifaat, who faces war crimes charges in Switzerland related to the 1982 massacre, is among several members of the Assad family who have left Lebanon in recent weeks. Additionally, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi confirmed that top Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban had also left Beirut earlier this month after entering Lebanon legally.
