BEIRUT, December 28. /TASS/. Lebanese authorities deported back to Syria about 70 former officers and soldiers of the former Syrian government armed forces who had illegally crossed into the country, the Elnashra news website reported, citing a source in the Lebanese security service.
"The former Syrian soldiers were taken under guard to their homeland through the al-Arida checkpoint in northern Lebanon and handed over to representatives of the military operations department under the transitional government in Damascus," the source said.
According to the person, the group of 70 Syrian officers and soldiers was detained on December 27 in the town of Byblos.
"All of them entered Lebanese territory illegally," the source said.
According to Elnashra, this is the first time that former Syrian military officers have been extradited to the new authorities in Damascus since the downfall of former President Bashar Assad's regime on December 8.