Arrestin a terrorist cell is carried out by the Syrian Ministry of Interior

Muhsen AlMustafa, a researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, said that the Interior Ministry’s announcement of arresting a cell that had been planning to target the Mezzeh neighborhood and the military airport reflects the success of preemptive security work, by detaining the members before execution—something he considered an indication of improved intelligence accuracy and growing coordination between the Interior Ministry and the General Intelligence Service.

AlMustafa linked this cell to a previous cell that was apprehended in early February, pointing to what he described as support and funding from Hezbollah, as part of an effort to destabilize Damascus and Syria in general after the fall of the regime. He explained that the aims of escalation lie in reinforcing the impression that the new Syrian state is weak and unable to maintain security, undermining opportunities to attract investment by striking stability, and applying undeclared pressure to bargain with the state to allow the passage of arms shipments, noting that specialized entities announced the several shipments in the Badia and along the Lebanese border.

He concluded by affirming that the Syrian state is strongly present and will not allow Syria to be turned into an arena for exporting internal crises or tampering with its security.