By Xinhua,
Beirut : Syria has deployed more troops off Aridi border with northern Lebanon, Lebanon’s Al-Markazia news agency reported Wednesday, without indicating when the new deployment took place.
The entire 4th division under the command of Maher Assad, including troops and artilleries, were deployed three kilometers off Aridi border crossing, the report said.
In October, Syria expanded a troop buildup, deploying tanks on the border facing the Lebanese Bekaa valley, after its first buildup of 10,000 troops along the borders in September.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman had telephoned his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad at that time to inquire about the troops deployment which raised fear in Lebanon of a possible Syrian intervention.
Assad told the Lebanese president that the aim of the deployment was to stop smuggling and crimes along the borders between the two countries.
Syria believed that the booby-trapped car bombing attack that killed 17 people in Damascus in September came from a neighboring country through Syrian borders.
Lebanese interior minister Ziad Baroud visited Syria last week to discuss ways of security cooperation between the two countries to combat smuggling and crimes.