A local resident from Ain Ata, an eastern Lebanese village on the border with Syria, said his new herd of mules has turned to be a main source of income during these hard days.

Hussein Al Nasr explained to Xinhua that the mule, which has horse's strength and donkey's patience but is sterile and cannot breed, help him smuggle arms and ammunition across the mountainous areas between Lebanon and Syria.

"The war in Syria helped restore the role of mules -- a main tool for transporting food and medical supplies along with arms the feuding parties need, which has been lost since a quarter of a century ago," he added.

A livestock pedlar named Abdllah Al Alili said that the soaring demand on mules has flourished his business and the trade in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa region, noting that the price increased by about 70 percent in less than a year.

"The prices vary according to the age and strength of the animal and it ranges from 900 US dollars to 2,500 dollars," he said.

The mule convoys became a familiar scene in the Mount Hermon border crossing between Lebanon and Syria with an altitude of 2, 500 meters, according to local residents.

An 86-year-old resident named Daher Daher recounted that the roads in Mount Hermon are known to be the main smuggling roads between Lebanon and Syria.

During the conflict between Lebanon and Israel from 1982 to 2000, he said, "the smugglers were mainly Israeli officers and the local militiaman known as the South Lebanese Army, help them transport the imported tobacco from the illegal Naqoura port in southern Lebanon."

"Smuggling trade is at its peak during these days due to the war in Syria, and it represents a main source of income for hundreds of Syrian and Lebanese families," he continued, adding " There are many workers in this field and in our town alone, we have 450 mules engaged in this trade."

Smugglers, for their part, said that their customers are mainly organizations belonging to influential political parties.

The over 330-km Syrian-Lebanese border has been witnessing frequent people-and-arms-smuggling trade since the beginning of the Syrian crisis.

The Lebanese army managed to close some of the illegal crossing points and reinforced its presence in the region, but the measures have failed to take full control over the border region.