Thousands who fled recent fighting in Syria return home

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA shows Syrian troops standing at Naseeb border crossing with Jordan, in the southern province of Daraa, Syri on July 7, 2018. AP

BEIRUT — A UN official and a group that closely monitors the Syrian war say most Syrians displaced by recent fighting in the country’s south have returned to their homes.

Anders Pedersen, the top UN humanitarian coordinator in Jordan, told reporters Sunday that just 150 to 200 Syrians remained stranded near a key crossing point into Jordan, adding that as “far as we understand they are almost exclusively men.”

Syrian government forces regained control of the Naseeb border crossing with Jordan on Friday, along with a long stretch of the border between the two countries.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said some 60,000 Syrians have returned to their homes, while thousands of others fled to another area, fearing detention by government forces. /ee