'Qasoura', suspected ISIS leader, detained by Lebanese army

Arrest follows surveillance operation, military says

The arrest of the ISIS leadership suspect follows a church bombing in neighbouring Syria. AFP

The suspected leader of ISIS in Lebanon has been arrested, the country's army has said, accusing him of planning several "security operations".

The Lebanese military posted on X on Tuesday that a suspect named RF, also known as Qasoura, had been detained by its Intelligence Directorate following a series of security, surveillance and monitoring operations.

Weapons and ammunition were seized along with equipment for manufacturing drones, the army said.

The military labelled him a "prominent leader of the terrorist organisation Daesh".

According to the army, Qasoura took over the Lebanon branch of ISIS after the arrest of several major figures in December including his predecessor, who was nicknamed Abu Saeedal-Shami. An investigation is under way, the military said.

Fears of a resurgence of ISIS have been running high in the region with the collapse last year of the regime of president Bashar Al Assad in neighbouring Syria.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber killed at least 25 people at a church in Damascus, with authorities blaming ISIS.

It and other Sunni extremist groups fought several battles with the Lebanese army in the 2010s and carried out a series of deadly bombings targeting the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and its supporters. But they were largely defeated militarily in 2017.