Security Forces Foil IS Terror Schemes, Bust Would-Be Suicide Bombers

The General Security and Internal Security Forces agents managed to bust a terror cell comprised of Palestinian, Syrian and Yemeni suspects, who had plans to carry out terror operations in the country including in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern town of Nabatieh, media reports said.

“A group of elite intelligence forces in the General Security and Internal Security Forces tracked down suspects and deterred detainees and other fugitives from carrying out criminal schemes on Lebanon's territory. Four terrorists were detained and an explosive belt was defused,” the National News Agency reported.

NNA said the detainees were "Yemenis, Palestinians and Syrians who had formed a terror cell linked to the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria and Africa."

Members of the network communicated with their operators from Lebanese locations mainly from the Palestinian refugees camps of Ain el-Hilweh in Sidon, Bourj al-Barajneh and Shatila refugee camps in southern Beirut.

The suspects had confessed that they had orders to carry out suicide attacks in public facilities, and assassinations against military officials from the Lebanese army, security forces and partisans in the vicinity of the Shatila and Bourj al-Barajneh camps.

Another scheme on their list was to provide explosive detonators from Ain el-Hilweh to Beirut's Cola region for use in explosive bombs.

Four other explosive bombs were prepared to blowup in areas in Tripoli, Nabatieh, and al-Rihab area in Beirut's southern suburbs, said NNA.

They had plans to form a cell of supporters of the terrorist IS organization residing in Beirut, with the aim of carrying out security operations and bombing inside Lebanese territory.

One of the suicide attackers was also planned to set off an explosive belt in front of the entrance of a building inhabited by a cleric in south Lebanon with the aim of killing him while he was leaving his house.

The cell had also planned to carry out an attack that would target a restaurant, social institution or crowd in Beirut's southern suburbs to be synchronized with the time of the Iftar.

The suspects were referred to the military prosecution and were identified by their initials as Yemeni A.S.Aa.S., aka Abou Saleh, Palestinian Aa.H.Aa.R., aka Abou Khaled and Abou Sajed, Palestinian M.M.G.Kh. Aka Abou Bakr al-Maqdisi, Syrian Aa.Q.Aa.H. Aka Abou Youssef, Palestinian Aa.M.M.M. Aka Abou al-Mathna and Abou Mohammed, Palestinian M.H.F. Aka Abou al-Hassan and Abou Khattab, Palestinian A.A.G. Aka Abou Asaad.