Terrorist Cell in Syria Arrested

Syrian security forces say they have arrested a terrorist cell near the capital Damascus.
The terrorist group, which was armed with heavy weapons and explosives, was captured in the city of al-Dumair -- home to a major airbase in the country -- two days ago, Syria's Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

According to initial confessions of the terrorist cell members, aired on state television on Friday, the group was planning to attack the main military bases as well as economic and government facilities in Syria.

The detainees alleged that they had smuggled ammunition into the country from neighboring Lebanon and hid them in towns close to the capital.

One of the terrorist cell members, Osama Khalifa, said that a person called Hani al-Nomairi asked him to provide weapons from an area in al-Kalamoun and that he went to a person there who told him that he cannot procure weapons at this time and that he needed time.
Khalifa said that " al-Nomairi then sent him to a village in al-Zabadani area where he met a person that told him that he only had AK-47 rifles from Lebanon priced at SYP 75,000 apiece," adding that "he was arrested on the way back to al-Dumair to inform al-Nomairi".
Khalifa said that al-Nomairi was recruiting youths from al-Dumair and arming them in order to target military facilities and security personnel, and that they planned to attack a gas pipeline that passes through the city in addition to attacking locations in al-Dumair airport, police department, municipality and party headquarters.
.

Damascus says Saudi Arabia and Sa'ad Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister and the leader of al-Mustaqbal (Future) Movement, are financing armed gangs in Syria.

Syrian authorities blame armed groups and foreign elements for the violence, saying security forces have been given clear instructions not to hurt civilians.

Damascus had previously announced the arrest of members of armed terrorist groups, saying that they had also confessed to receiving weapons and money from foreign organizations to kill civilians and security forces in a bid to cause chaos in the country.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to bring those behind the killings to justice.