The Information Branch, also the Information Department ( ar, شعبة المعلومات/فرع المعلومات, commonly known as ''al-maʿlumāt'' ''"The Information"''), is the
intelligence unit
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
of the
Lebanese Internal Security Forces Directorate, founded on August 6, 1993 under decree No. 3904. Its main tasks include gathering national and
military intelligence,
criminal investigation,
espionage,
counterintelligence, and
counter-terrorism.
Acting as a counterweight to the
Lebanese Armed Forces's intelligence unit, the newly-formed security apparatus was largely trained and supplied by the United States, France, and Germany. Trained in the
Alps, its Strike Force is equipped with advanced firearms and devices.
It is considered one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the
Middle East, and its members have been subject of assassinations and assassination attempts.
See also
*
General Directorate of General Security
The General Security Directorate ( ar, الامن العام, al-Amn al-'Aam; french: La Sûreté Générale) is a Lebanese intelligence agency founded on July 21, 1921 and originally known as the "first bureau". On June 12, 1959, Decree-Law No. ...
*
Lebanese State Security
The Lebanese State Security or Amn Eddawla (Official name: General Directorate of State Security) ( ar, المديرية العامة لأمن الدولة) (french: Direction Générale de la Sûreté de l'Etat Libanais) is the Lebanese National ...
*
October 2012 Beirut bombing
On 19 October 2012, Wissam al-Hassan, a brigadier general of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the head of its intelligence-oriented information branch, died along with several others killed by a car bomb in the Achrafieh district ...
References
Lebanese intelligence agencies
1993 establishments in Lebanon
Government agencies established in 1993
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