NICOSIA [MENL] -- Syria has announced the capture of an Islamic insurgency network.

Authorities said the network sought to attack a series of targets in the Damascus area. They said the insurgents, some of whom came from Saudi Arabia, aimed to destabilize Syria in the first stage of a regional campaign.

"Following a quiet and long security hunt, security forces arrested a large extremist group that believed in killing and sabotage as a means to achieve its targets and deny all religions and regimes," the official Syrian news agency, Sana, said on June 10.

The agency identified the network as the Sham Organization For Jihad and Tawhid. The network was said to have been led by an insurgent identified as Abu Omar and based in a rented apartment in a Damascus suburb. Abu Omar was said to have been killed in a raid by security forces on June 9.