Intelligence officers from Syria’s new de facto government foiled a plan by the Islamic State group to bomb a Shiite shrine in the Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zainab, state media reported on Saturday.
State news agency SANA cited an unnamed General Intelligence Service official as saying that members of the IS cell planning the attack had been arrested. It quoted the official as saying that the intelligence service was “deploying its full capabilities to counter all attempts to target the Syrian people in any form.”
Sayyida Zainab has been the site of previous attacks on Shia pilgrims by IS – which interprets Sunni Islam excessively and considers Shias as infidels.
In 2023, a motorcycle packed with explosives exploded in Sayyida Zainab, killing at least six people and injuring dozens, a day before the Shia holy day of Ashoura.
The announcement that the attack had been foiled appears to be another attempt by the country’s new leaders to reassure religious minorities, including those considered supporters of Bashar al-Assad’s former government.
Assad, a member of the Alawite minority, was allied with Iran and the Shia Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, as well as Iranian-backed Iraqi militias.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the former rebel group that led the attack that ousted Assad last month and is now the de facto ruling party in the country, is a Sunni Islamist group that formerly had ties to al-Qaeda.
The group later split from al-Qaeda, and HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has preached religious coexistence since taking power in Damascus.
Relations with neighboring Lebanon
Also on Saturday, Lebanon’s acting Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Damascus to meet Al-Sharaa.
Relations between the two countries had become strained under Assad’s rule, with Lebanon’s political factions deeply divided between those supporting and opposing Assad’s rule.
Mikati told reporters after his meeting with al-Sharaa that the two countries would form a committee to work on the demarcation of the border, which has never been officially defined.
Mikati also said they would work together to combat smuggling at the open border.
“Some cases on the border need to be fully controlled to prevent any smuggling operations between Lebanon and Syria, especially at illegal border points,” he said.
Chebaa Farms and the Golan Heights
A particularly thorny issue is the area known as Chebaa Farms, which is controlled by Israel as part of the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed. Had captured. Most of the international community considers this area to be occupied.
Beirut and Damascus say Chebaa Farms belongs to Lebanon. The United Nations says the area is part of Syria and that Damascus and Israel should negotiate its fate. The fact that the Lebanon–Syria border was never clearly demarcated has complicated the issue.
In response to a question about the demarcation of that area, al-Shara’a did not give a clear answer.
“I think it’s too early to talk about all the details of border setting,” he said. “There are a lot of problems in the Syrian reality. We can’t solve it all at once.
Meanwhile, Al-Sharaa said he hoped the official border crossing issues would be resolved soon. Lebanese citizens, who previously easily entered Syria without requiring a visa, are currently barred from entry.
“We want social relations between us that grow and not shrink, so any border barriers between us should be eliminated in the future, but this is a detailed matter for the customs authorities,” al-Shara said.