FRANCE PRESS

BEIRUT: Scores of Syrian families crossed the border to Lebanon Tuesday fleeing the crackdown launched by the regime in their country against pro-democracy protestors since mid-march, a security source told The Daily Star.
But the source added that the Syrian army tightened its grip along the border by circulating patrols and fortifying positions, especially in the environs of illegal border crossings with Lebanon.
The source said refugees fleeing the bloody unrest in Syria crossed to the northern Lebanese regions of Wadi Khaled and Hermel.

A local official told AFP that most of the refugees were Lebanese nationals. Some of them have dual Lebanese and Syrian citizenship, he added.
The official said the refugees poured across the border into the Lebanese region of Knaysseh after the Syrian army reinforced its presence in the two border towns.

Thousands of Syrians have fled into Lebanon in the very beginning of the turmoil in Syria but numbers have dwindled since then. However, this week witnessed a surge in the numbers of refugees.