BEIRUT, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Army Intelligence unit arrested 50 Syrian nationals Tuesday in a raid on a Syrian refugee settlement north of the southern port city of Sidon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The Syrian nationals were reputedly arrested for not possessing identity papers and entering Lebanon illegally.
Reports of the arrest came as the Lebanese Army detained 29 Syrians in the northern town of Meryata Tuesday, where tensions between locals and refugees continue to rise following the murder of a local woman by a Syrian man.
The body of Rayya Chidiac was found in her parent's home in the town of Mizyara on Sept. 22 and autopsies revealed that the body was bruised and bore signs of suffocation, as well as sexual assault, according to a statement from the Internal Security Forces (ISF).
Investigations into Chidiac's death have centered on a doorman, identified as B.H., born in Syria in 1991, who had worked in Chidiac's parent's building for the past three years.
B.H. was arrested by an Internal Security Forces Information Branch unit, and scratches were reportedly discovered on his body.
Authorities believed his injuries were the result of Chidiac's resistance during the attack, an ISF statement said.
The murder led to a widespread crackdown on refugees, with restrictions on their movement put in place and the Municipal Council of Mizyara ordering the Syrians living in town to leave.
