Fifty thousand Syrians returned to Syria from Lebanon this year - official

FILE PHOTO: Syrian refugees prepare to return to Syria from the Lebanese border town of Arsal, Lebanon June 28, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Fifty thousand Syrians have returned home from Lebanon so far in 2018 and the number could reach 200,000 in a year's time if it continues at this rate, a top Lebanese official said on Tuesday.

Major General Abbas Ibrahim, head of Lebanon's General Security directorate, told Reuters his security agency had organised the return of 25,000 Syrians in coordination with Damascus. Another 25,000 had made their own way home.