A group of trucks stranded in Syria. (Credit: NNA)
The owners of approximately 70 trucks carrying goods, stranded in the Syrian city of Daraa, have called on Lebanese authorities to help facilitate the passage of their vehicles through the Masnaa border crossing to return to Lebanon. According to the National News Agency (NNA), these trucks are primarily transporting cheese and other perishable food items. Their blockage appears to be linked to the unrest following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria last Sunday.
Speaking to L’Orient-Le Jour, Ibrahim Tarchichi, president of the Bekaa Farmers and Tobacco Growers Union, said, "The sudden closure of the borders on the Syrian side caught these truck drivers off guard as they were transiting from various Arab countries through Syria."
Lebanon’s only open land border is with Syria, making it a critical route for all goods entering the country by road. "Since the regime's fall, Syrian borders have been closed and are non-operational, leaving these trucks stranded," Tarchichi added.
The Assad regime, which had ruled Syria with an iron fist for over 50 years, collapsed unexpectedly and rapidly last Sunday after a final rebel assault on the capital, Damascus, faced little resistance from the Syrian army.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
