3 ISIS leaders arrested in Syria, Lebanon and Turkey

Lebanese judicial sources revealed that the senior security official of  the "Islamic State" who was arrested in Lebanon and is suspected of holding the position  of "General Security Emir" of the so-called "Southern Province" and "Wasat Province" inside Syria, "was a semi-permanent resident of Lebanon."

 The  General Directorate of Internal Security Forces in Lebanon announced on June 30 that its units "continue to carry out pre-emptive operations to pursue the cells of armed organizations and dismantle their networks before moving to the implementation phase," noting that security follow-up led to the arrest on June 30, 2026, of the Syrian "H. R." , born in 1994.

According to the results of the initial investigations, the detainee was not an ordinary member of the organization's ranks, but was promoted to several leadership positions before assuming a high security responsibility, including supervising the security and operational activities of ISIS in southern and central Syria, in addition to managing movements, following up on the implementation of the instructions issued by its leaders, and coordinating with officials and emirs in other provinces within Syrian territory.

While the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces refrained from revealing additional details about the location of the arrest or his movements while he was in Lebanon, a judicial source explained that the operation took place last week in Beirut after a close security follow-up revealed his presence on Lebanese territory.

Lebanese authorities arrest relatives of "detained leader"

A judicial source confirmed to the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that preliminary investigations showed that the detainee was residing in Lebanon almost permanently, and confessed during the investigations that he was "planning to carry out a security operation inside Syria, including preparing to target a Syrian army barracks in Daraa province and other targets deep inside Syria."

The Lebanese judiciary and security services "began analysing the seizures in his possession, especially his personal phone and computer, with the aim of revealing the nature of the communications he made, determining the size of the network associated with him, and ascertaining whether he had received support or guidance from other parties", he said.

As part of the investigations, two of the suspect's relatives were arrested to listen to their statements, before being later released after they were found to have nothing to do with the file or the plans he was suspected of preparing for, according to the Lebanese judicial source supervising the preliminary investigations.

Lebanon "attaches special importance to this file, given the sensitivity of the detainee's position within the leadership structure of  the Islamic State, especially in terms of his possession of information about the group's networks and movements inside Syria", he said.

Source: The arrested leader did not confess to his connection to the recent Damascus bombings

The judicial source revealed a trend "to coordinate with the competent Syrian authorities, with the aim of exchanging information related to the detainee and verifying the nature of his relations inside Syrian territory, and whether there are individuals or groups connected to him or involved in the preparation of any security operations."

As for whether the leader had anything to do with the recent bombings in Damascus and the group's claim to them, the source explained that "the detainee did not confess to any role he had in them, but the investigation has not yet ended, and the information on his phone and personal computer must be checked."

The source did not hide that the arrest of this official "comes in the context of the ongoing Lebanese security efforts to prevent the use of Lebanese territory as a platform for the movement or planning of extremist groups, and to pursue elements linked to terrorist organizations and dry up their sources of threat before they turn into field actions."

Syria: The "Wali of Lebanon and Palestine" Arrested in the "Islamic State"

The Interior Ministry announced the dismantling of cells affiliated with the "Islamic State" organization and the arrest of a leader of the organization in the southern region.

The ministry said in a statement published on its official identifiers on Thursday (July 9th) that its specialized units, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Service, arrested the leader of the "Islamic State" organization named Firas al-Dagher and a number of those responsible for assassinations and financing, during a series of security operations that resulted in the dismantling of several cells affiliated with the organization in the southern region.

The ministry did not specify the location of the arrest, but only said that it took place in the southern region, which includes the provinces of Damascus, Daraa, Quneitra and Suwayda.

The ministry said that investigations showed that al-Dagher progressed in leadership positions within the organization, including the so-called "Jidour sector" and the "western region", leading to his assignment as the so-called "governor of Lebanon and Palestine", in addition to his work as a personal escort for the organization's caliph.

Turkey: ISIS leader arrested

Turkish  intelligence announced on Sunday, July 13, the arrest of Taleb Güler, one of the leaders of the "Islamic State" organization, during a qualitative operation it carried out outside the country, before later transferring him to Turkey to complete investigations, without revealing the time or place of the operation that resulted in his arrest.

 Turkish security sources reported that investigations  revealed that Talib Güler is the brother of Kasim Güler, the former official of the so-called "Turkey Province" within the organization, whom Turkish intelligence had brought to the country in 2021 in a similar security operation.

According to the sources, Turkish intelligence expanded its investigations after the arrest of Kassem Güler, following the path of his brother Talib until he was transferred from the conflict zones to Turkish territory.