LONDON: Two Syrian security personnel were killed and five others wounded on Thursday during an operation targeting a Daesh-linked cell in Rankous, near the Lebanese border, security sources said. The Internal Security Forces said they carried out the operation with the General Intelligence Service in the western Damascus countryside. Their initial statement gave no details on the outcome or the circumstances of the casualties. The raid followed a series of operations against suspected Daesh cells, including one authorities said disrupted a plot to attack a police patrol in the Damascus countryside. On Oct. 16, the General Intelligence Service and Internal Security Forces announced the arrest of two suspects in that plot. State media identified them only by the initials M. Kh. and A. H. and reported that authorities seized an explosive device ready for detonation. In a separate operation on Friday, the Internal Security Forces said they dismantled a Daesh-linked cell in the Houla area of northern Homs province, arresting two members and seizing two explosive devices. The suspects received and transported explosives for the group and monitored places of worship and security patrols in preparation for attacks, the force said. It said the planned attacks were intended to “stoke strife and undermine security and stability in the area.” Security forces also carried out raids and arrests in the nearby town of Taldo as part of an investigation into an attack on a bus carrying workers near the Masyaf bridge late last month. Those targeted were suspected of belonging to the militant group. The operations followed the arrest of a man authorities described as a senior Daesh commander responsible for attacks in Homs. The Interior Ministry said Oct. 6 that Khaled Raed Birouni, also known as Abu Hassan Dushka, was arrested in Hujaira, in the Damascus countryside. Authorities identified him as the top military commander of the group’s self-proclaimed “Homs Province.” The ministry accused Birouni of planning and overseeing bombings and sectarian attacks, including the December 2025 bombing of the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in Homs’ Wadi Al-Dhahab neighborhood. Eight people were killed and 18 wounded when an explosive device detonated inside the mosque during Friday prayers, the Health Ministry said at the time. Since the fall of longtime President Bashar Assad on Dec. 8, 2024, Syria’s interim authorities have pursued wanted suspects and launched security operations against armed groups as they seek to restore order and bring weapons under state control.