Seventy Syrians who entered illegally into Lebanon arrested in Tripoli

A patrol from the Tripoli customs services arrested on Thursday night approximately 70 Syrian nationals who were aboard a bus in Bohsas, reports our correspondent in the region.

They are believed to have entered Lebanese territory illegally through one of the clandestine routes at Lebanon's northern border with Syria.

The driver of the pick-up truck, a Lebanese national identified by his initials Kh. Kh., has been detained on orders from the judicial authorities. The passengers, as well as the vehicle, were transferred to the General Security Directorate of Tripoli, where judicial procedures are underway.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Lebanon has hosted nearly 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom hundreds of thousands are said to have returned to their country during the last war between Israel and Hezbollah. With the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Damascus on Dec. 8, many have returned home again, with no clear numbers being released. At the beginning of the month, the Lebanese Army announced that it had reinforced its "units responsible for monitoring the northern and eastern borders," as well as its control measures in the region.