The Syrian Interior Ministry has released a video detailing an operation to capture an ISIS terrorist cell that planned to carry out several attacks in sensitive locations in Syria.
These supposed attacks included on a church in Mallow, located 40 kilometers north of Damascus, in the holy Shiite compound of Sayyida Zeinab in Damascus, and to assassinate President Abu Muhammad al-Julani.
The goal of these operations, according to the ministry, was to incite religious hatred and destabilize the country.
The video shows two of the cell's most prominent terrorists: Arkan Saeed Fadl, known as "Abu al-Harith al-Iraqi," who is responsible for coordinating operations in Syria, and Muhammad Ali al-Hussein, known as "Abu Walid al-Khamsi," who admitted that the cell planned to carry out a series of attacks in various areas.
According to the confessions, the cell failed to carry out an attack on the church in Malula, due to the tight security in the area, so the plan was changed and it was decided to target the holy compound of Sayyida Zeinab using car bombs and IEDs.
According to the Syrian Ministry of Interior, in the event of failure, one of the members of the cell was supposed to pose as a journalist in order to blow up when Al-Julani arrived. According to the exposed cell, the attacks would have caused Al-Joulani to come visit the place, which would have been an opportunity for them.
Syrian security forces arrested the members of the terrorist cell the day after the attempted attack on the Sayyida Zeinab compound, and their confessions were then shown in a video released by the Ministry of Interior.