BEIRUT, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese General Security arrested five people last month for forming a terrorist cell affiliated with the Islamic State (IS), the daily newspaper Al Akhbar reported Monday.
Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the detainees admitted to having prepared to carry out a terrorist attack on a church in the northern city of Tripoli on Christmas Eve last year, said the newspaper.
He had other plans, including attacking a hospital in Beirut with an explosive drone.
The detainees, all Lebanese citizens, are mostly from families with a long history of operating with terrorist groups, some of whom had fought in Syria and spent years in prison in Lebanon for working with terrorist groups, according to the investigations.
Lebanon tightened security during the Christmas and New Year festivals by deploying 521 officers, 7,690 soldiers, and 440 security patrols at 391 churches across the country.
Over the past years, Lebanon has busted several terrorist networks and groups and foiled many of their plans.
