Lebanon has repatriated 70 officers and soldiers to Syria, according to a security official

Lebanon has expelled approximately 70 Syrian military personnel on Saturday, returning them to Syria after they illegally entered the country through unofficial routes, according to a Lebanese security official and a war monitoring group. Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8, many high-ranking Syrian officials and associates of the former ruling family sought refuge in neighboring Lebanon.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based organization with contacts in Syria, along with the Lebanese security official, reported that the Syrian military members of various ranks were sent back through Lebanon’s northern Arida crossing.

Both SOHR and the security official indicated that the individuals who were returned faced detention by Syria’s new ruling authorities upon their re-entry. The new government has recently intensified its security operations against what they describe as “remnants” of the Assad regime. Several affected cities and towns, particularly in Homs and Tartous provinces, are located near the porous Lebanese border.

The Lebanese security official noted that the Syrian officers and soldiers were discovered in a truck in the northern coastal city of Jbeil during a local inspection.

Neither Lebanese nor Syrian government officials have provided immediate comments regarding this incident. Additionally, Reuters reported on Friday that Rifaat al-Assad, an uncle of Bashar al-Assad who faces war crimes charges in Switzerland related to the violent suppression of a revolt in 1982, recently departed from Beirut to Dubai, along with numerous members of the Assad family. Earlier this month, Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi mentioned that top Assad adviser Bouthaina Shaaban had also left Beirut after entering Lebanon legally.