BEIRUT: A senior Daesh security official arrested in Lebanon had been living in the country on a “semi-permanent” basis, Lebanese judicial sources said Tuesday. Investigators suspect he served as the group’s general security emir for its self-proclaimed Southern and Central provinces in Syria.
Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces (ISF) said its units continue to carry out preemptive operations to track down extremist cells and dismantle their networks before they can launch attacks.
It announced that it arrested a Syrian national identified by the initials H.R., born in 1994, on June 30.
According to preliminary investigations, the suspect was not a rank-and-file militant but had risen through Daesh’s leadership before assuming responsibility for overseeing the group’s security and operational activities in southern and central Syria.
His duties included supervising security operations, managing militant movements, implementing orders from senior leaders, and coordinating with commanders in other Syrian provinces.
