Lebanon’s army says 10 Syrians froze to death while trying to cross into the country via a dangerous smuggling route through the mountains.

Military officials say the Syrians, including two children and six women, were caught in a strong snowstorm while trying to cross the mountainous frontier between the two nations.

An army statement said troops received a tip Friday morning that the group of refugees had gotten stuck in the snowstorm. It said an army patrol found the bodies of nine refugees who had died from the cold and rescued six other people near the Masnaa border crossing. It said one of those rescued later died from frostbite.

The army said troops were still searching for others who might have been lost in the snow.

It said two Syrians had been arrested on smuggling charges. Lebanon and Syria share a border that extends for 330 kilometers, and the smuggling routes between the countries tend to be in areas of rougher terrain.

Syrian refugees began pouring into Lebanon after the start of Syria's civil war in 2011. Lebanon took in at least a million refugees at the height of the conflict, but in 2015 the Lebanese government put in place new restrictions in order to curb the number of refugees entering the country.

Many of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in informal tent settlements in the east of the country and struggle to stay warm in the winter. </s> Syrians fleeing war in their country freeze to death when an icy storm hits a smuggling route in the mountains near a border post with Syria as they cross into Lebanon.

The Lebanese Army retrieves the body of a Syrian near the Masnaa border crossing. (Credit: ABC licensed)

Nine Syrians froze to death crossing into Lebanon when an icy storm hit a smuggling route in the mountains near a border post with Syria.

The Lebanese Army said in a statement on Friday it rescued six others from near the Masnaa border crossing, one of whom later died in hospital.

The army arrested two Syrians on smuggling charges and is still searching for others lost in the snow.

Two children were among the nine refugees who died.

Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan have now all closed their border crossings to Syrian refugees.

Syrians wishing to enter Lebanon must prove to Lebanese authorities they have reason to be in Lebanon, such as property ownership, an embassy appointment, or a residency permit.

For many Syrians fleeing war in their country, securing residency or work permits is impossible.

Many are in Lebanon illegally and face arrest if discovered.

Lebanon took in around 1.5 million Syrian refugees at the height of Syria's conflict, now in its seventh year. </s> BEIRUT - Nine Syrians froze to death crossing into Lebanon when an icy storm hit a smuggling route in the mountains near a border post with Syria, the Lebanese Army said on Friday.



The army rescued six others from near the Masnaa border crossing, one of whom later died in the hospital, an army statement said.



The army arrested two Syrians on smuggling charges and is still searching for others lost in the snow, it added.



Syrians wishing to enter Lebanon must prove to Lebanese authorities they have reason to be in Lebanon, such as property ownership, an embassy appointment or a residency permit.



For many Syrians fleeing war in their country, securing residency or work permits is impossible. Many are in Lebanon illegally and face arrest if discovered.



Lebanon took in around 1.5 million Syrian refugees at the height of Syria's conflict, now in its seventh year. </s> Nine Syrians freeze to death while crossing to Lebanon

Nine Syrians froze to death crossing into Lebanon when an icy storm hit a smuggling route in the mountains near a border post with Syria.

The Lebanese Army said in a statement on Friday it rescued six others from near the Masnaa border crossing, one of whom later died in hospital.

The army arrested two Syrians on smuggling charges and is still searching for others lost in the snow.

Two children were among the nine refugees who died.

Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan have now all closed their border crossings to Syrian refugees.

Syrians wishing to enter Lebanon must prove to Lebanese authorities they have reason to be in Lebanon, such as property ownership, an embassy appointment, or a residency permit.

For many Syrians fleeing war in their country, securing residency or work permits is impossible.

Many are in Lebanon illegally and face arrest if discovered.

Lebanon took in around 1.5 million Syrian refugees at the height of Syria's conflict, now in its seventh year. </s> The number of Syrians who have died trying to flee their war-torn country into neighbouring Lebanon during a snowstorm has risen to at least 13, the United Nations said Saturday.

A group of Syrians, including children, had tried to enter neighbouring Lebanon late on Thursday through a smuggling route but were caught in a fierce storm.

The Lebanese army and civil defence said on Friday they had retrieved the bodies of 10 Syrians, including two children and six women.

But the toll has since increased.

Lisa Abou Khaled, a spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency, said at least 13 Syrians were confirmed to have died in the incident.

"The victims were trying to cross an arduous and rugged passage in freezing temperatures," the UNHCR said in a statement.

"Others in the group, including a pregnant woman, were discovered in time and assisted by nearby residents and the Lebanese Armed Forces and Civil Defence to reach hospitals before they froze to death."

A Lebanese army source told AFP on Saturday that the toll had reached 14.

"The army retrieved a total of 12 bodies on Friday, and one person died at the hospital. Another body was found on Saturday, bringing the total to 14," the source said.

Lebanon, a country of four million, hosts just under a million Syrians who have sought refuge from the war raging in their neighbouring homeland since 2011.

Many live in informal tented settlements in the country's east and struggle to stay warm in the winter.

The UN's children's agency UNICEF said on Saturday it was distributing blankets, warm clothes and heating fuel.

"More children could be among the dead as residents in the area and the Lebanese authorities continue to look for people who are reportedly trapped in the mountainous in freezing temperatures and snow," a UNICEF statement said.

"The brutal wars have to stop and we all need to step up our generosity and assistance for the most affected children. We have no excuse. We cannot continue failing children!"

In 2015, Lebanese authorities introduced new restrictions to curb the number of Syrians entering the country.

Lebanon and Syria share a rocky 330-kilometre (205 mile) border with no official demarcation at several points. </s> The bodies of nine Syrian refugees who crossed into Lebanon have been found frozen in a mountainous area near the border with Syria, according to the Lebanese army.

The military said in a statement that the bodies were found on a people-smuggling route in the early hours of Friday after a snowstorm hit the Masnaa area, where Lebanon's largest official border crossing with Syria is located.

"The army saved six other displaced Syrians, one of whom died later in a hospital from frostbite," the statement added, raising the death toll to 10.

"The bodies were taken to the hospitals in the area, and the army continues to search for other displaced people trapped in the snow, in order to evacuate them and provide medical treatment for them."

The identities of the Syrian refugees were not immediately known. According to some reports, at least one child was found among the bodies.

Two other Syrian nationals were arrested and charged with people-smuggling, the army added.

'We are deprived of everything'

Temperatures dropped on Friday as winter storms battered the Lebanon-Syria border, making the lives of the more than 357,000 Syrian refugees living in makeshift tents in the Bekaa Valley, some 60km north of Masnaa, even more difficult.

Reporting from the region, Al Jazeera's correspondent Zeina Khodr said that Syrian refugees "face many challenges during the winter months".

"They live in tents that are made out of plastic sheeting, which does little to protect them from the cold and the rain," she said.

Hammadi Chelbi, a Syrian refugee who has been living in Bekaa Valley after he fled the Syrian conflict in its first year, told Al Jazeera that he and his family are living in misery.

"We have nothing but pain, sickness and suffering," he said. "We are deprived of everything."

There are one million registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, although government officials estimate that the number is closer to 1.5 million.

The UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) says it is not getting the money it needs to help Syrian refugees in Lebanon through another harsh winter.

Last year, it requested $228m but received less than 60 percent of that, prompting it to warn that life in the camps was getting worse. </s> Three children were among the dead, NNA said.

The Lebanese Civil Defense and the Lebanese army took the bodies from the spot where they were found -- on a smuggling route in al-Masnaa area -- to a hospital.

Three people who were discovered near the bodies were transported for urgent medical treatment, state news said.

An army statement gave a different toll of nine bodies and said the military saved five Syrians. Another person died later in a hospital from frostbite, the army said. </s> The death toll of Syrian refugees who froze to death due to a snowstorm in eastern Lebanon has risen to 12, according to Lebanese Civil Defense sources.

Three more bodies were found on Saturday, taking to the death toll to 12, the sources said.

According to the sources, three children were among the victims, who lost their lives as they attempted to cross into Lebanon from neighboring Syria.

Three more refugees were rescued by Lebanese civil defense teams, the sources said.

On Friday, the Lebanese army said nine refugees had frozen to death along Lebanese-Syria border due to harsh weather.

The severe weather is expected to become sunny on Saturday and Sunday, according to Lebanese metrological agency.

Several parts of Lebanon -- including the Beqaa Valley, which is home to thousands of Syrian refugees -- have been hit recently with extremely cold weather and heavy snowfall.

Last month, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) said the number of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon had fallen to about 998,000 from a previous 1.5 million. </s> BEIRUT (Reuters) - Five suicide bombers attacked Lebanese soldiers as they raided two Syrian refugee camps in the Arsal area at the border with Syria on Friday and a sixth militant threw a hand grenade at a patrol, the army said.

Lebanese army soldiers patrol a street at the entrance of the border town of Arsal, in eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Hassan Abdallah

The army said seven soldiers were wounded and a girl was killed after one of the suicide bombers blew himself up in the midst of a family of refugees. It did not elaborate.

The raids were part of a major security sweep by the army in an area that has been a flashpoint for violent spillover from the Syria crisis, and several Islamic State officials were among some 350 people detained, a security source said.

The defense minister was quoted as saying the incident showed the importance of tackling the refugee crisis - Lebanon is hosting over 1 million refugees - and vindicated a policy of “pre-emptive strikes” against militant sleeper cells.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which backs Syrian President Bashar al Assad in his fight against insurgents, said the raids complemented its own fighters’ campaign to stop militants entering Lebanon from Syria.

“What is needed today is to unify efforts more and more to fill all the gaps that terrorists can infiltrate from to protect Lebanon and its people from the big dangers that target it,” the Hezbollah statement said.

There has been frequent fighting between the army and militants dug into the hills around Arsal in a large pocket of territory straddling the border.

Related Coverage Hezbollah says army manhunt in Syrian refugee camps protects border security

A Lebanese army statement said one suicide bomber had detonated his explosive laden belt in front of an army patrol during a manhunt for suspected militants in a refugee camp in the northeastern border town. Three soldiers were wounded.

The army said four other suicide bombers blew themselves up without causing any injuries among soldiers, while another militant threw a grenade at a patrol, wounding four soldiers.

During the raids an explosive device blew up while four other explosive devices were defused, it said.

The U.N. refugee agency says Lebanon hosts more than 1 million registered Syrian refugees - constituting a quarter of its population.

The government puts the number at 1.5 million. They are scattered across the country in informal tented settlements where many face the risk of arrest due to lack of legal residency that they struggle to obtain.

The Lebanese army has in recent months stepped up raids in the makeshift camps built on the edge of Arsal, where refugees live in squalid conditions.

The manhunt inside the sprawling camps on the border area came after intelligence reports that militants were preparing to stage a series of attacks inside Lebanon.

A Lebanese army soldier gestures at a military vehicle at the entrance of the border town of Arsal, in eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Hassan Abdallah

The camps around the town have long been a haven for militants coming from Syria who have clashed with Lebanese forces conducting security raids searching for suspects hiding among the refugees.

The militants briefly overran the town in 2014 in a battle that killed dozens and marked one of the more serious spillovers of the Syrian conflict in Lebanon.

A number of attacks in Lebanon in recent years have been linked to the war in Syria.
The bodies of ten Syrian men are found after a snowstorm on the Lebanon–Syria border. The Lebanese Army says they tried to enter Lebanon illegally. Two presumed people smugglers are arrested.