BEIRUT, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Around 7,000 Syrians have entered Lebanon since Sunday when the Syrian government led by Bashar al-Assad collapsed, said al-Akhbar, a local newspaper, on Friday.
"All of these people meet the requested legal conditions, such as having residency permits, humanitarian status, or considering Lebanon as a transit country for travel abroad," said the newspaper, quoting security sources.
The anonymous sources revealed that apart from the 7,000, an estimated 90,000 displaced persons entered Lebanon through illegal crossings.
Al-Akhbar said some of these Syrians left due to security concerns stemming from recent political upheavals in Syria. It noted that while a small number migrated to Beirut, the majority settled in the Lebanese Bekaa region, particularly in the city of Hermel.
On Friday, a passenger bus carrying Syrians overturned and struck a sidewalk near an illegal crossing between Syria and Lebanon in the northern Akkar governorate, injuring approximately 30 people, with 11 sustaining critical injuries.
Syrian militant groups, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, waged a major offensive from northern Syria starting on Nov. 27 and captured the capital, Damascus, within 12 days, leading to the collapse of al-Assad's government. ■
