Lebanese Interior Minister Nouhad Al-Machnouk revealed on Friday that Internal Security Forces (ISF) has carried out a wide security mission that foiled terrorist plots by Takfiri ISIL group.

In a press conference in Beirut on Friday, Machnouk said the ISF’s Information Branch used an ISIL commander to gather intelligence on the group’s plots in Lebanon.

The minister said that the Lebanese security agency had arrested high-ranking ISIL official in June 2017, Abu Jaafar Al-Iraqi, noting that the Takfiri commander was recruited by the ISF’s Information Branch for five months.

Intelligence was reportedly gathered through Iraqi starting from last June until the end of 2017, particularly during the holiday season, the Lebanese minister said.

“The Intelligence Branch carried out a rare and wide mission that has saved Lebanon from dangerous terrorist threats,” Machnouk said during the press conference.

Meanwhile, he noted that Iraqi’s role in assisting Lebanon’s security services remained unknown to ISIL and even to his family over this period, during which the ISF had access to all of his incoming phone calls and other communications.

Source: Lebanese media