Members of 'Hezbollah cells' arrested in Sayyida Zeinab, Syria

The Syrian Ministry of the Interior announced Thursday in a statement the launch of a "security operation against Hezbollah cells in the Sayyida Zeinab area, in the Damascus countryside," reported the state-run Syrian news agency SANA.

According to the statement, the security services "succeeded in arresting several [men] who were planning criminal acts ... This campaign is part of ongoing efforts to preserve security and stability in the region," a suburb south of the Syrian capital.

This announcement came as Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa and his Syrian counterpart Mourhaf Abou Qasra are in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where they are to hold a meeting with their respective delegations. The discussions are set to focus notably on the situation at the border, which is particularly porous between the two countries and, in addition to smuggling, has been marked by clashes in February and March between "clans" reputed to be close to Hezbollah and the Syrian security forces.

Hezbollah, which fought alongside the troops of the fallen regime of Bashar al-Assad during the civil war in Syria, exerted its influence in several regions of the country, notably in the Sayyida Zeinab area, where a Shiite shrine is located. The fall of the Assad regime removed a significant portion of the party's influence in Syria.