ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: REUTERS / Mohamed Azakir Lebanon foiled a plot by militants based in the Syrian province of Idlib to carry out 2 attacks this year against places of worship and Lebanese army positions, Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said on December 10. During a televised news conference, the attacks were timed to coincide with Lebanon’s general election, which took place in May. The Internal Security Forces monitored the plot and thwarted it. The province of Idlib is a part of the last remaining militant stronghold in Syria. A major part of it is held by extremist militant groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda). These are the same “moderates” that the US-led bloc is defending when it claims that the Syrian Army should not employ a military solution in the area if the peace is not reached by diplomatic measrues.

On Dcember 10, the Turkish Interior Ministry released a new report providing a detailed look at the security situation in the country in the period from December 3 to December 10. According to the statement, the Turkish Army and security forces carried out 2,817 anti-terror operations across the country “neutralizing” 26 terrorists. Authorities detained 4,677 suspects in variuos crimes: 3,338 – crimes linked to drugs and smugling; 153 – crimes linked to illegal migration; 1,163 – terror-related crimes. The army and security forces also seized 40 guns, 2 grenades, 2,027 ammunitions and 428 kg of explosive materials. Turkish forces destroyed 40 shelters belonging to terrorist cells as well as 4 IEDs and mines. Click to see the full-size image