A Lebanese soldier on guard near the city of Baalbeck in the Bekaa Valley on March 12, 2024. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/AFP)
On Monday, a Syrian national trying to cross the border into Lebanon near al-Ain (North Bekaa) lost his right leg after being injured by a landmine, according to our correspondent in North Lebanon.
The man, who resides in the Lebanese village of Sheikh Ayash (Akkar), was rescued by the Red Cross and transported to a hospital in Halba (Akkar) for treatment. Many Syrians cross the Lebanon-Syria border daily through illegal routes.
The border area between Lebanon and Syria is contaminated with explosives placed by the Syrian army to combat arms smuggling. Fighting related to the occupation of several eastern regions of the country and the Anti-Lebanon between 2013 and 2017 by ISIS and the al-Nusra Front has contributed significantly to landmine contamination. In February 2022, a mine killed a young Lebanese man and injured another near Ras Baalbeck.