Bahrain foils major terror attack
Manama : Bahrain’s counter-terrorism forces have successfully stopped a major terror attack in the Kingdom by arresting 116 members of a ‘terror’ network linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
An Interior Ministry statement said that the group were plotting attacks on Bahraini officials, security forces and vital oil installations with the objective of disturbing public security and harming the national economy.
“Comprehensive investigations revealed that the suspected terrorists were members of a network formed and supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRGC),” Interior Ministry statement said.
Investigators found that 48 of the 116 suspected terrorists arrested had received training at IRGC facilities in Iran and their affiliated locations in Iraq and Lebanon.
The statement revealed that investigators found the facilities used by the terrorists for manufacturing, storing and transporting explosive devices intended for attacks in the Kingdom.
The security forces in the process where thus able to thwart a number of attacks by seizing large quantities of arms and explosives, the statement said.
The items found included explosives materials, automatic weapons, pistols and magnetic bombs and grenades. An examination by the forensic lab showed that three of the bombs matched the specifications of the PG7 manufactured by the Iranian ordnance factories.
“By providing material, recruitment and training support to terrorists, the IRGC and its affiliates, including the Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of Righteous People) in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon, are directly responsible for the intensification of terrorist activity in Bahrain,” the statement said.
The investigations revealed that terror cells within the network were operating under the supervision of IRGC-affiliated groups and fugitive terrorist leaders in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.
The main terrorist leaders include Aqeel Al Sari, Murtadha Al Sindi and Qassim Al Muamen.
The ministry said they are responsible for recruiting terrorists in Bahrain, arranging firearms and explosives training for terrorists, establishing secret warehouses and hideouts, and supplying terrorist groups with funding, firearms and explosives to carry out attacks.
The General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science has referred the case to the Public Prosecutor.
The terrorist groups were responsible for:
• Organising warehouses to store weapons and explosives
• Monitoring potential locations for terrorist attacks
• Transporting and distributing cash and explosives
• Manufacturing explosives
• Executing terrorist attacks
Weapons seized by the crime scene team include:
• Around 42kg of high-grade C4 and TNT
• More than 757kg of urea nitrate
• Kalashnikovs, pistols, ammunition and detonators
• Magnetic bombs and grenades
• Anti-personnel explosives as well as devices which can pierce armoured vehicles
• Vehicles used for transporting explosives
• Four fragmentation bombs which can be launched through an RPG and used to destroy light armoured vehicles.
Related Posts