LONDON: Syria’s Interior Ministry announced on Tuesday that it had thwarted a planned attack in the Mezzeh area of Damascus and had arrested more members of a terror cell preparing strikes on populated areas of the capital.

Security forces arrested members of the cell as they attempted to set up Grad-type rocket launchers. They, along with other cell members arrested last week, are accused of attacks targeting the Mezzeh area and a nearby military airport.

Forces seized the launching platforms before they could be used. Investigations revealed that the suspects were planning more attacks and had contact with external groups, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

The ministry announced earlier this month the arrest of members of a terror cell linked to attacks in the Mezzeh area and its military airport, after weeks of surveillance of rocket launching sites in Daraya and Kafr Souseh.

Authorities from the Syrian Arab Republic said that the launching platforms and drones used by the cell in the attacks had been sourced from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah, the SANA added.