AFP, Damascus

Syria said yesterday that its forces dismantled a cell affiliated with Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, a key ally of ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

“Specialised units in cooperation with the general intelligence service... were able to arrest a terrorist cell belonging to the Hezbollah militia that was active” in the Damascus countryside, an interior ministry statement said, quoting a local commander.

“Preliminary investigations showed that the cell members underwent training in military camps in Lebanese territory, and were planning to carry out operations inside Syrian territory that threaten national security and stability,” the statement said.