ISTANBUL

The Syrian Interior Ministry said that members of an ISIS (Daesh)-linked terror cell were detained and neutralized ahead of planned attacks in the country’s coastal region.

Brigadier General Abdulaziz Hilal al-Ahmad, the head of internal security in Latakia, said Monday evening that the cell was targeted in “a precise security operation in the Badrousieh area in the northern Latakia countryside,” the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

Ahmad added that the cell was planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Syria’s coastal region.

He said two cell members were killed while the rest were arrested after clashes between security forces and the ISIS terrorists, without specifying the number of those apprehended.

An intelligence officer was also seriously wounded in the clashes, Ahmad said.

A cache of various weapons and ammunition was seized during the operation.

Since Bashar al-Assad’s ouster in late 2024, Syria’s new administration has taken several measures to restore security in Syria and pursued political and economic reforms while promoting social cohesion and working to expand cooperation with regional and international partners.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia last December, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. A new transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January.