Lahore, December 12, 2024: A group of 81 Pakistanis, part of around 300 stranded in Syria, have safely returned to Lahore.
The group, initially part of a larger group of Pakistani pilgrims, travelled from the Syrian border to Beirut Airport before flying to Dubai and then finally arriving in Islamabad.
One of the returnees, Salman, shared that the group had been residing in the suburbs of Damascus and expressed gratitude for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s efforts to liaise with the Lebanese government for their safe return. He also thanked the Pakistani authorities at the embassy in Beirut for their cooperation, although he noted that the returnees had to bear the expenses of their travel from Syria to Lebanon.
Earlier, around 350 Pakistani nationals, including 245 pilgrims, had crossed the Lebanon border after being stranded in Syria due to the crisis triggered by the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government. Hundreds of Pakistani pilgrims remain trapped in Syria.
