Syrian authorities said on Tuesday they had prevented a sabotage attempt against an important refinery by figures linked to Lebanon's Hezbollah group, which denied the accusation. The announcement comes after a series of unclaimed attacks against oil and gas pipelines across several parts of Syria. Domestic intelligence and security forces "foiled a terrorist plot by a cell affiliated with the Hezbollah militia that was targeting the Homs refinery", the security forces said in a statement. They said they had arrested two members of the cell and seized explosives intended for use in the attack. In a statement later, Hezbollah denied the accusations "in their entirety", condemning "the repetition of these accusations". It reiterated that it "has no presence or connections in Syrian territory and has nothing to do with any activity that undermined Syria's security and stability". The Homs refinery, in central Syria, is the only operational one in a country devastated by more than a decade of civil war that ended in late 2024. Another refinery, on the coast at Banias, is undergoing maintenance. Damascus has previously announced the dismantling of cells linked to Hezbollah, which has denied the allegations each time. The Lebanese group took part in Syria's war on the side of the since-overthrown Bashar al-Assad, fighting against those now in power in Damascus and earning their ongoing enmity. On Sunday, Syrian news agency SANA reported a foiled plot against the refinery, while in early October Damascus reported sabotage attacks first against an oil pipeline and then a gas one. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem have both raised the possibility of meeting each other.
