Lebanon’s Information Branch, known in Arabic as شعبة المعلومات, belongs to the Internal Security Forces. It should not be confused with the Lebanese Army’s Intelligence Directorate, General Security or State Security, which are separate institutions with different command structures and responsibilities.
The ISF’s published organizational decree places an Information Branch within the service and operations structure. The decree describes information work that includes identifying what security information should be collected, quickly passing useful information to relevant units, coordinating with other security bodies and using technical systems for communications and information storage.
Recent ISF statements show how that mandate appears in practice. The branch is repeatedly described as conducting field, technical and intelligence inquiries; identifying suspects; carrying out surveillance; and making arrests after coordination with the competent judiciary. Public releases have connected it to cases involving kidnappings, armed robbery, motorcycle theft, fraud and drug distribution.
In Sidon, the ISF said the branch identified two suspects after a young woman was abducted from her workplace in Hilaliyeh and coordinated arrests in Hilaliyeh and Majdelyoun. The official statement said she was located safely after being released. Times of Sidon omits identifying details about the victim.
Official statements are not court judgments. Our coverage attributes allegations and confessions to the ISF, avoids presenting an arrest as a conviction and links readers to the full primary release. That distinction is especially important in security reporting, where public information often comes from the investigating institution before a case reaches its final judicial outcome.