Syrian refugees get on a bus to return to their homeland, in Tripoli, Lebanon, Dec. 6, 2018. (Xinhua/Khalid)

MOSCOW, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 1.55 million Syrian citizens have returned to their homes so far, head of the Russian National Defense Center said Tuesday.

The number includes 1.26 million internally displaced persons and more than 290,000 people returned from abroad, Col.-Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said at a meeting of Russian-Syrian headquarters for the coordination of the return of refugees.

"The number of citizens arriving in the country continues to grow, and it is very important that the positive dynamics is maintained in the process of restoring social facilities and infrastructure of the Syrian Arab Republic," he said, according to the official transcript of his report.

Centers for the reception and accommodation of refugees with a total capacity of 1.5 million people have been deployed in 412 localities formerly affected by hostilities, Mizintsev said.

Russia took part in an anti-terrorist operation in Syria in September 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

A year ago, the operation was completed with the Syrian army aided by the Russian Armed Forces liberating practically all of the country from Islamic State (IS) and other terrorists with just a few terrorist groups surviving in the east of the country and in the northwestern Idlib province.

During the operation, 1,411 populated areas were freed with 96.5 percent of the country's territory retaken by government troops and the people's militia, Mizintsev said.

The completion of the operation made it possible to significantly reduce the grouping of the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria and to begin restoring peaceful life, he said.