Five Arrested in Lebanon for Forming Daesh-affiliated Terror Cell

By Staff, Agencies

Lebanon's General Security arrested five individuals last month for organizing a terror cell affiliated with the Daesh [Arabic for ‘ISIS/ISIL’] terrorist group, according to the country's daily Al-Akhbar Newspaper.

According to preliminary investigations, one of the detainees acknowledged to planning a terrorist attack on a church in the northern city of Tripoli on Christmas Eve last year.

He had other intentions, including using an explosive drone to assault a hospital in Beirut.

According to the investigations, the detainees, all Lebanese citizens, come largely from families with a long history of working with terrorist organizations, with some of them having fought in Syria and spent years in prison in Lebanon for operating with terrorist groups.

Lebanon increased security over the Christmas and New Year's holidays by deploying 521 policemen, 7,690 troops, and 440 security patrols across the country at 391 churches.

Lebanon has dismantled multiple terrorist networks and organizations in recent years, foiling many of their plots.