Photo published on Wednesday, Feb. 19, by the Syrian news agency SANA of the arrest in Damascus of a member of a group involved in selling weapons to the Lebanese Hezbollah.
The Syrian General Security arrested several groups involved in the "trafficking and sale of arms to Hezbollah" on Wednesday, in the Qutayfa region, a suburb of Damascus, according to the Syrian news agency Sana.
These arrests took place after "a surveillance and investigation operation," according to the governorate of the Damascus suburb, as cited by Sana. An image published by the agency shows a truck filled with several dozen pieces of ammunition resembling artillery shells.
The Qutayfa region faces the Baalbeck region on the Lebanese side. The Lebanese Army had closed several illegal crossing points in the area over the weekend, particularly at Hosh al-Sayyed Ali, Qasr and Qaa.
Since the regime's overthrow on Dec. 8, the new Syrian authorities, composed mainly of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), have been striving to thwart any smuggling attempts between Lebanon and Syria. They launched an operation on Feb. 6 against families allegedly close to Hezbollah in Hermel, near the Lebanese border, accused of engaging in smuggling activities.
Violent and deadly clashes continued for several days before the Lebanese Army fully deployed, following discussions between interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun to end the fighting. A month earlier, on Jan. 17, security forces in Tartous, north of Lebanon, foiled an arms trafficking operation, while Syrian authorities had begun closing illegal crossings along the Syrian banks of the al-Kabir River near Lebanon’s northern border.
Humanitarian convoy reaches Rmeish, Ain Ibl, Dibil despite obstacles
