LONDON: Syrian authorities on Tuesday arrested several people with links to Iran-backed Hezbollah suspected of planning to carry out assassinations in the country.
The Interior Ministry said that it had dealt a “preemptive and decisive blow” to a plot linked to Hezbollah after launching operations against the group in Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Tartus and Latakia.
The suspects had entered the Syrian Arab Republic after undergoing training in Lebanon and were in an advanced stage of planning coordinated attacks, including the assassination of high-ranking government officials, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
Among those arrested was a senior Hezbollah member responsible for planning and supervising assassinations on the ground, the report said.
Authorities also seized improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, automatic rifles, grenades and ammunition, as well as specialized surveillance equipment.
Syria’s security forces have intensified their crackdown on Hezbollah, a Lebanese paramilitary ally of the ousted Bashar Assad. The group lost its stronghold in Al-Qusay, a city in western Syria, after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Authorities last month thwarted a cross-border missile launch attempt, accusing Hezbollah of trying to destabilize the country.
