Kuwait strikes out at militants
CHARITY THAT RAISED FUNDS FOR SYRIANS SHUT, AS 60 MORE ARE HELD FOR TERROR LINKS
Authorities have detained 60 people and closed a charity over alleged violations in raising funds
Kuwait’s interior minister said yesterday that the country was at war with militants and would strike out at cells in the country. Daesh claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on Friday by a Saudi citizen on a mosque in Kuwait City which killed 27 worshippers.
“We are in a state of war. It’s a war that had been decided with this cell. But there are other cells, and we will not wait for them to try their luck with us,” Interior Minister Shaikh Mohammad Al Khalid Al Sabah told parliament.
Authorities has detained 60 people and closed a local charity for alleged violations in raising funds for Syrians, local media said yesterday, as part of a crackdown on suspected militant links after the state’s worst ever suicide bombing.
Kuwait has stepped up security after a suicide bomber who flew in from Saudi Arabia blew himself up inside a mosque during Friday prayers, killing himself and 26 other people. Kuwaiti officials said the attack was aimed at stirring up sectarian strife in the country.
Al Qabas newspaper quoted security sources as saying that 60 people, including Kuwaiti citizens and other Gulf nationals, were being held for investigation by security services.
Some had been found to have been in contact with Islamist militants with others suspected of belonging to “extremist” groups, Al Qabas reported.
Accused received funds
It also said that five people suspected of involvement in Friday’s mosque bombing by Saudi national Fahd Sulaiman Abdul Mohsin Al Qaba’a had been referred to the public prosecutor. The five, it said, had confessed to receiving financial transfers from abroad to carry out attacks targeting houses of worship.
Al Qabas did not name them but Kuwait’s interior ministry has said it had detained the driver of the vehicle that took Al Qaba’a to the mosque, the owner of the car and the owner of the house where the driver went to hide after the attack.
Al Rai daily said the ministry of labour permanently closed down the Fahd Al Ahmad charity on Sunday due to “repeated violations despite the warnings”.
Quoting a source at the ministry, Al Rai said the ministry had repeatedly asked the charity to comply with regulations stipulating that funds for Syrians be collected through official channels.
Officials from the charity were not immediately available to comment on the report.