Syrian woman killed, ten-year-old son injured by Lebanon border guard fire

A Syrian woman was killed and her son injured on Sunday after Lebanese guards fired at them close to the Syria-Lebanon border, according to local media reports.

Tajah Jaber al-Tarshan and her 10-year-old son were shot by Lebanese border guards as they tried to cross into Lebanon from Syria, Euphrates Post reported on Sunday.

Al-Tarshan and her son were from Deir az-Zour governorate, the Syrian outlet said.

Fighting has been raging in Deir az-Zour between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and local Arab tribal militias for weeks, killing scores of people including civilians.

Euphrates Post said the death at the border was the second such incident in the past seven days, coming after two Syrians were killed and two injured when landmines exploded as they tried to cross the border into Lebanon at the Wadi Khaled area.

Lebanon recently vowed to clamp down on what it says has been an influx of Syrian refugees trying to cross into Lebanon.

Lebanon's caretaker minister of the displaced, Issam Charafeddine, said earlier this month that 8,000 Syrians had entered Lebanon through illegal crossing points in August alone.

The recent influx of refugees is reportedly due to deteriorating living conditions in Syria, which have sparked large-scale protests in the country, including in Suweida province.

Millions of Syrians have left their country since war broke out in 2011 following a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests by Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Lebanon hosts more than one million Syrian refugees, many of whom fled previous regime assaults on opposition areas around Damascus and Qalamoun.

There has been increasing xenophobia and racism against Syrians in the country, with politicians blaming them for Lebanon's severe economic crisis.