A portrait of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad torn in the city of Aleppo, northern Syria, on Nov. 30, 2024. (Credit: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon has arrested a former Syrian colonel and several accomplices who allegedly planned attacks against forces of Syria’s new government, a judicial official told AFP on Wednesday. Local media reported further details about the network and its alleged activities in Lebanon.
The alleged leader of the network is a former Syrian army major general who is close to longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad who, like the ousted leader, is now based in Moscow, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Lebanese authorities detained "two Lebanese and three Syrians, one of them a former colonel in the [Syrian] intelligence services" and seized "automatic weapons, hand grenades, sniper rifles and explosives" in their possession, the official said. The network's members received "military training from Hezbollah fighters" in eastern Lebanon, he added.
Hezbollah was allied with Assad and fought alongside his forces during Syria's civil war, before the country's new authorities ousted him in December 2024. Initial investigations indicate that the accused "were planning to carry out operations against government forces on the Syrian coast," the official said.
The Syrian coast, the heartland of the country's Alawite minority, to which the Assad family belongs, saw sectarian bloodshed in March last year. Syria and Lebanon have sought to turn a new page after Assad's ouster and the weakening of Hezbollah. Lebanese authorities last month extradited to Syria a former Assad-era general accused of crimes including murder and torture.
Syria exercised political and military control over Lebanon for decades under Assad and was accused of involvement in numerous assassinations there. Since 2024, officials from the two countries have held several meetings and agreed to cooperate on issues including security.
Local media report further details
Lebanese outlet Al Modon reported, citing an unnamed judicial source, that the investigation began with the arrest of Ali Safi, a former colonel in Syrian Air Force Intelligence who was allegedly hiding in Akkar, northern Lebanon, where he worked as a coffee seller.
According to Al Modon, the network allegedly smuggled recruits from Syria’s coastal region into Lebanon through established smuggling routes, in groups of five or six. The recruits were initially sheltered in Beirut’s southern suburbs before being transferred to a training camp in the Bekaa.
There, they allegedly received training in making and detonating explosive devices, as well as assembling and operating drones, before being sent back to Syria to carry out attacks against Syrian security forces, Al Modon reported.
Lebanese channel MTV also reported that the network had trained and sheltered people from Syria's coastal region and equipped them with weapons, explosives and drones to carry out operations in Syria.
Al Modon reported that Lebanese security forces raided a large farm in Akkar and seized bombs, military weapons and detonators. Security forces also raided an apartment in Bikfaya, in the Metn district, and arrested a Syrian national who had allegedly fled Akkar and helped conceal explosives.
The outlet further reported that the authorities were pursuing two Hezbollah members allegedly linked to the network. Their identities were still being verified before judicial notices or arrest warrants could be issued.
