Syrian refugee numbers in Hatay fall below 10,000

The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey fell below 10,000 as hundreds more returned home, Turkish officials said yesterday. Over 400 Syrians returned to their country on Sunday and Monday, reducing the total number of refugees in Turkey to 9,909, the country's disaster and emergency management agency said on its website. Meanwhile, the Syrian army crackdown on antigovernment protests continued. Armed and security forces detained more than 20 people in some neighborhoods of the central city of Hama yesterday.