Saudi named in mosque bombing
Man entered Kuwait only hours earlier, officials say
KUWAIT CITY — Kuwaiti authorities on Sunday identified the suicide bomber behind an attack on a Shiite mosque that killed 27 people as a Saudi citizen who flew into the Gulf nation just hours before blowing himself up.
Police have begun making arrests in connection with Friday’s bombing, which took place at one of Kuwait’s oldest Shiite mosques during midday prayers. An affiliate of the ISIL group has claimed responsibility for the blast in the normally peaceful oil-rich nation.
The Interior Ministry named the bomber as Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Gabbaa and said he was born in 1992, making him 22 or 23 years old. It said in a statement carried by the official Kuwait News Agency that he arrived on a flight to Kuwait International Airport at dawn Friday.
Authorities also said they arrested a 25-year-old from Kuwait’s “bidoon” community, identified as Abdulrahman Sabah Eidan Saud, who they say drove the car that brought the bomber to the mosque.
The bidoon community is made up of descendants of desert nomads and others considered stateless by the government. They have long claimed the government deprives them of citizenship and rights.
The government-linked Al-Jarida newspaper reported that at least seven suspects had been detained in connection with the attack, which has drawn condemnation from Sunni groups in Kuwait and leaders from across the Middle East.
Officials say 227 people were wounded in the attack.
A local affiliate of ISIL calling itself the Najd Province has claimed responsibility for the bombing. ISIL considers Shiites to be heretics and is fighting Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria.