50 Syrian Families Flee Unrest into Lebanon's Wadi Khaled

Syrian families fearing fresh violence during anti-regime protests on Friday fled into the area of Wadi Khaled in northern Lebanon, a local official told Agence France Presse.

"Around 50 Syrian families from Homs, Tall Kalakh and Bab al-Sebaa entered Wadi Khaled via the illegal Naoura crossing," Fayez Abdullah, mayor of the village of Amayer in Wadi Khaled, told AFP.

Most of them said they had gathered their belongings in the early hours and made their way into Lebanon as they feared clashes with security forces during protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule after Friday prayers.

Abdullah said the Lebanese army had been taking down the names of the Syrian migrants as they entered Wadi Khaled in the Lebanese district of Akkar.

An army official however told AFP the military had taken "no extra measures" at Lebanon's porous northern border.

Fleeing violence in their hometowns, hundreds of Syrians have since last week poured into Wadi Khaled on foot from villages near the border, bringing with them mattresses and other basic provisions.

For two months, Syria has been rocked by increasingly deadly demonstrations against close to five decades of rule by the Baath party.

Up to 850 people, including women and children, have been killed and at least 8,000 arrested as security forces cracked down on the protest movements, according to rights groups.