Syria’s interior ministry said Saturday that five people had been arrested over a plot to attack an unidentified religious figure in Damascus, alleging the cell was linked to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
In a statement, the ministry said security forces observed a woman as she attempted to “plant an explosive device in front of the house of a religious figure” near a church in Damascus’s Bab Touma area.
Security forces intervened and dismantled the device, arresting all five members of the cell, the statement said.
“Preliminary investigations revealed the cell’s link to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and that its members received specialised military training abroad,” the statement added.
Since March 2, Hezbollah has been battling Israel after drawing Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.
The group played a key role in Syria’s civil war, fighting alongside the forces of now ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.
Under Assad, Syria was part of Iran’s “axis of resistance” against Israel and enabled the transfer of weapons and money from Iran to Hezbollah.
Syria’s new Islamist authorities have rejected Iranian influence and are hostile to the Lebanese group and its sponsor.
In February, Syria said it had dismantled a cell responsible for recent attacks targeting Damascus’s Mazzeh district, saying the weapons came from Hezbollah, which denied any involvement.
