The agency's interlocutors included five Syrian officers, as well as one Syrian and two Lebanese representatives of the authorities responsible for security. Everyone spoke anonymously.
Syrian officers, including a senior military official, said the operation to reinforce the border began in February but had accelerated in recent days. According to them, the aim was to prevent the smuggling of weapons and drugs and to prevent fighters of the Iranian-backed Lebanese organization Hezbollah and other armed groups from penetrating into Syria.
Why is Syria strengthening its borders with Lebanon?
What units were sent to the border?
Is Syria planning military action against neighboring countries?
What are the goals of deploying missile launchers?
One Syrian officer said units from several divisions, including the 52nd and 84th, had increased their presence on the border in Homs, in the west of the country, and south of the city of Tartus, also in the west. Among others, they were sent there infantry units, armored vehicles and Katyusha and Grad rocket launchers.
Syria “is ready to respond to any threat”
The security official said Syria had no plans to take military action against neighboring countries but “stands ready to respond to any threat to its security or the security of its partners.”
Syrian officers also denied similar plans. They stressed Syria's desire for balanced relations with its neighbors after decades of tensions caused by Syria's undue influence in Lebanon and the pro-Iranian Lebanese organization Hezbollah's support for the former government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during Syria's 14-year civil war.
Syrian troops were stationed in Lebanon from 1976 to 2005, including during the Lebanese Civil War that ended in 1990.
Syria notifies Lebanon of 'preventive measure'
A senior Lebanese security official told Reuters that Syrian authorities had notified Lebanon that the deployment of missile launchers along the border was “a measure to prevent possible Hezbollah actions or attacks against Syria.
On Monday – more than a year after reaching a ceasefire agreement with Israel – Hezbollah began shelling the country again. Despite the agreement, Israel continues to attack almost every day.
