Lebanon indicts 14 over alleged plot to attack Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Lebanon’s Military Court has charged 14 people, including a Hezbollah member and a former Syrian intelligence officer who served under former President Bashar al-Assad, over alleged plans to carry out attacks in Syria, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Lebanese authorities arrested five people in early September, including three Syrians, on suspicion of planning attacks against Syrian government forces in the coastal region, according to the judicial source. Weapons, including machine guns, hand grenades, sniper rifles and explosives, were reportedly seized from the detainees.
The charges against the 14 include forming a criminal group, training in the use of weapons and explosives, sniper rifles and drones, with the alleged aim of carrying out attacks in Syria’s coastal region, the source said.
According to preliminary investigations cited by the source, more than 40 former Syrian government officers and personnel were allegedly smuggled from the Syrian coast into northern Lebanon through unauthorized crossings, in groups of about five people at a time.
The source also said that a Hezbollah official identified as Yasser Alaa al-Din, known as “Hajj Alaa,” who is reportedly at large, supervised the alleged smuggling of members of the network and their training at Hezbollah camps in eastern Lebanon.
The source said the operations were managed by Major General Mohammad Jaber, formerly commander of the Syrian army’s Desert Forces, who is currently in Moscow and is described by the source as close to Bashar al-Assad.
Hezbollah has previously denied any connection to the alleged network or the training of its members.
The case comes as Lebanon and Syria seek to strengthen security cooperation following years of strained relations and amid investigations into networks allegedly linked to former Syrian government personnel.
In August, Lebanon handed a former Syrian major general to Syrian authorities after detaining him under an arrest warrant issued in absentia by Damascus, which accused him of killings and crimes against humanity during his military service.