Return of terror

Manama

Even as security near the places of worship were beefed up across the Kingdom following the IS threat,   a debilitating terror blast rocked Karana village last night, killing a policeman on duty and inuring seven others including an infant.

The condemnable blast in the Northern Governorate has shocked the collective conscience of the Kingdom even as initial probe indicated the use of explosives akin to the ones seized during an earlier attempt by a disruptive group to smuggle a consignment of highly dangerous explosive devices and weapons into the kingdom emanating from the soil of Iran.

Among the injured are four policemen and three civilians, and Interior Ministry in its tweet said one injured policeman was in a serious condition. On the civilian side, a Bahraini couple passing by the blast site and a baby who was with a parent also sustained injuries in the blast. Interior Ministry said they are in a stable condition. 

The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, swung into action and launched hunt for the perpetrators of the crime. The ministry later confirmed that a quick round of investigation and search operations led to the arrests of a number of suspects. Yesterday’s attack comes one month after two police personnel were killed in a similar blast in Sitra. 

Interestingly, the Kingdom had witnessed heightened security, particularly, at the places of worship after it received threats from militant groups like IS.

Interior Ministry, notably, had said it had foiled an attempt to smuggle a consignment of highly dangerous explosives into the Kingdom on July 25.

Subsequent investigations had also confirmed that one of the suspects involved in the smuggling attempt had received paramilitary training in a camp in Iran some two years back. The suspect also confessed to coordinating with Iranians along with another aide to receive four consignments of explosive devices in the open sea from two men in a ship. 

The two suspects also admitted that they were involved in two previous smuggling attempts – the first one towards 2013 end followed by the second in early 2014.