Terror cells busted

Bomb-making equipment and high-grade explosives were also discovered and neutralised in the raid carried out at Al Dair where the explosives were stored.

The arrested in the first cell are: Sayed Ahmed Mahdi Kadhem, 20; Isa Hassan Isa Ali, 20; Ali Dawood Ahmed Dawood Al Aradi; Hassan Shakir Hassan Ali, 21; Maitham Ali Hassan Ali Hassan, 20.

Members of the second cell included Abdullah Abdulmahdi Hassan Al Aradi, 24; and Loay Hani Saood Hussain Al Muamen, 19; both convicted terrorists known to have targeted security forces.  The arrest follows an investigation that revealed that the two cells were linked to a known convicted terrorist and fugitive Hussain Ali Ahmed Dawood, 31, based in Iran.               

Fugitive Hussain Ali Ahmed Dawood is sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in three separate cases, Major-General Tariq bin Hassan Al Hassan said.

Al Hassan said that Dawood had close connections with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Murtadha Al Sindi, and receives support from Salman Ali Salman Ali Ibrahim, 26, who was convicted for bomb making and possession of illegal explosives.

He also keeps contacts with Ahmed Abdulmahdi Hassan Al Aradi, 22, convicted for security disturbance case, attacks against police patrols and arson and Yasser Ahmed Habib Ibrahim, 31, convicted in cases related to arson and attacks against police patrols, Major General Al Hassan said.

Experiments filmed

A preliminary investigation revealed that members of the terrorist group had filmed bomb-making experiments and then sent those videos to known terrorism leaders in Iran, to improve manufacturing operations, Al Hassan said.

 After the Public Prosecutor was notified and the appropriate security and legal procedures had been undertaken, counter-terrorism and anti-explosive teams were deployed to the site to take the necessary steps to secure the area, Al Hassan said. 

The forensic team has gathered samples of the explosives to determine their types in order to remove them to a safe location. The crime scene team classified and seized the explosives in the presence of the Public Prosecutor.

Explosives seized

Up to 52kg of high-grade TNT explosives, including C4, urea nitrate, ammonium nitrate and raw materials, were discovered at the scene. Explosives experts estimated that the equipment had a potential to impact a 600 metre radius, posing a significant threat to the surrounding residential area.

 Laboratory tests revealed that many of the seized explosives could not have been made in Bahrain. In addition, certain materials were linked to those seized during several other recent cases, including Dar Kulaib warehouse case in June  2015.

Evidence and intelligence gathered during the investigation linked cell members to a series of recent attacks and terrorist plots, including:

Terror blast in Abu Saiba on February 4 2017, in which a police patrol was targeted and two civilian cars in the vicinity were damaged

Terror blast in Sanabis, in which a female driver was injured

Grenade attack on security forces in Samaheej on April 7, 2017

An investigation is going on into the group’s links to other terrorist cells operating in the Kingdom. The Interior Ministry has called on members of the public to report any suspicious activity by calling the community hotline 80008008.

Seized materials 

Ready-to-use bomb containing high-grade C4

Ready-to-use anti-personnel bomb and partly developed bomb materials

Explosive penetrator

Locally-made tasers and electronic circuits

Scale to measure explosives

Diagrams on bomb-making

Ammunition

Mobile phones, remote controls and batteries

Fugitives 

Fugitives