(MENAFN- Arab Times) Kuwait on Sunday identified the suicide bomber behind an attack on a Shiite mosque as a Saudi national, after a series of arrests in connection with the blast that left 27 dead. Friday's attack also wounded 227 worshippers in the first bombing of a mosque in the country and Kuwait's security services have vowed to catch and punish those responsible.
The Islamic State group's Saudi affiliate, the so-called Najd Province, claimed the bombing and identified the assailant as Abu Suleiman al- Muwahhid.
In a statement, Kuwait's interior ministry gave the real name of the attacker as Fahd Suleiman Abdulmohsen al- Qaba'a, born in 1992. It said that he entered the country through Kuwait Airport at dawn on Friday, the same day of the bombing.
A handout photograph of Qaba'a showed a young bearded man wearing a traditional Saudi headdress. Earlier on Sunday, the ministry said that security services arrested the driver of the car that transported the bomber to the Imam Al-Sadeq Mosque in Kuwait City. He was named as Abdulrahman Sabah Eidan Saud, 26, and described as an "illegal resident," the term Kuwait uses for stateless people locally known as Bedouns.
Authorities on Saturday arrested the car owner, Jarrah Nimr Mejbil Ghazi, born in 1988, and also listed as a stateless person. Security services have also detained the owner of a house used as a hideout by the driver, describing the owner as a Kuwaiti national who subscribes to "extremist and deviant ideology".
Around 110,000 Bedouns live in Kuwait and claim the right to citizenship. Alleged IS executioner Mohammed Emwazi, who became known by media as "Jihadi John", was born in Kuwait to a stateless family of Iraqi origin which later moved to London. In Iraq, relatives wept as the coffins of the eight remaining victims arrived and were taken inside the airport terminal at Najaf, an AFP journalist said. They were buried at dawn on Sunday in Najaf's Wadi al-Salam cemetery, according to deputy provincial council head Luay al-Yasiri.
"We want to deliver a message to DAESH (an Arabic acronym for IS) that we are united brothers among the Sunnis and Shiites, and they cannot divide us," said Abdulfatah al-Mutawwia, a Kuwaiti living in Iraq who lost his brother in the bombing.
Tens of thousands of people headed by HH the Amir offered condolences late Saturday to relatives of victims at Kuwait's Grand Mosque, the largest place of worship for Sunni Muslims, in a show of solidarity.
The cabinet announced after an emergency meeting on Friday that all security agencies and police had been put on alert to confront what it called "black terror". Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Yacoub al-Sane said additional security measures will be taken around mosques and places of worship.
The emir, government, parliamentary and political groups and clerics have all said Friday's attack aimed to stir up sectarian strife in the emirate. The radical Sunni IS considers Shiites, which comprise a third of Kuwait's 1.3 million native population, to be heretics.
In May, IS claimed responsibility for two similar bloody attacks against Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia. Friday's suicide bombing coincided with an attack claimed by IS on a tourist beach resort in Tunisia that killed 38 people.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior is said to have heard the testimony of a security man who was posted at the Imam Al-Sadiq mosque on the day of the blast on June 26, 2015, reports Al- Jaridah daily. The daily added, the patrolman was posted at the mosque to ensure the safety of worshippers. The patrolman added, he saw the suicide bomber rushing to the mosque and he thought he was making haste to catch up with the congregation because the prayer service had already begun.
On why he moved his car away from the scene of the blast or why he moved away, he said, for his personal safety and the safety of the patrol car to enable him to deal with the situation. Meanwhile, during a security crackdown in Jahra, Taima, Sulaibiya, Riqqa, Ahmadi and Bayan the Ahmadi police are said to have arrested 28 sympathizers of the Islamic State or the so-called DAESH, reports Al-Jaridah daily.
The daily added, all those arrested had been put under surveillance for a long time. Some of them have been referred to the State Security for interrogation. Security sources disclosed that one of the two brothers who hid the driver connected to the explosion in Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque had gone to Afghanistan in the past to fight and managed to return to the country later.
The brothers are among 27 siblings living in two adjacent houses in Riqqa area who have criminal record, and with some of them serving terms in the Central Jail for drug-related charges. Securitymen collected recordings of all surveillance cameras installed in Sawaber prior to the bombing of Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque; including those near the traffic lights, petrol pumps and the mosque in order to identify all those behind the attack, reports Al-Seyassah daily quoting sources.
Sources confirmed this procedure helped the securitymen identify the person who drove the Japan-made car which transported the suspected suicide bomber to the mosque, indicating the driver later left the car in Sulaibiya.
Sources revealed the driver stopped at the parking lot of the mosque, along with the suspected suicide bomber, at 11:00 am. Both of them waited until the mosque got crowded with worshippers. The suspected suicide bomber then went out holding a gadget and when he opened his hand the bomb exploded.
The driver, identified only as A.R.E.S., sped off immediately after the explosion and then left the car in Sulaibiya. He is said to have been following up developments regarding the bombing on Twitter while he was hiding in a house in Riqqa.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.