Lebanon transferred more than 130 Syrian detainees to their home country on Tuesday, a Lebanese judicial official and Syrian state media said, as part of an agreement the two sides signed last month.
Overcrowded Lebanese prisons host more than 2,200 Syrians held on various charges.
Many are still awaiting trial, while hundreds have been brought before military courts on charges of "terrorism" or related offences, including attacks on Lebanese forces.
Others are in custody for alleged membership in extremist or armed groups that were opposed to now ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, who was supported by Lebanon's Hezbollah group during the Syrian civil war.
The judicial official told AFP that "106 convicted inmates were released from Roumieh Prison (north of Beirut), in addition to 31 others from Qobbeh Prison in Tripoli" in the country's north.
"The convoy headed to the Masnaa crossing to hand them over to the Syrian side," the official added.
Syrian state news agency SANA later reported that the detainees had reached the Syrian side of the border crossing.
It is the first batch of prisoners to be transferred under an agreement signed between the two countries in February, which will cover almost 300 convicts who have served 10 years or more in Lebanese prisons.
Under the agreement, they will be required to complete the remainder of their sentences in Syria.
"Today, the implementation of the agreement on the Syrian detainees in Lebanon and the mechanism to transport them to Syrian territory has begun," SANA quoted the charge d'affaires at Syria's embassy in Beirut, Iyad al-Hazzaa, as saying.
He said 136 detainees were among the first group, with those remaining to follow "upon completion of the necessary procedures for their release".
It was not immediately clear why there was a discrepancy in the reported number of detainees.
The issue of the detainees had been a sticking point in Beirut-Damascus relations following Assad's overthrow in December 2024.
Over the past year, both sides have repeatedly expressed their determination to open a new chapter in bilateral ties.
