A Kuwaiti judge has ordered the continued pretrial detention of two citizens and three Tunisians arrested in connection with an alleged ISIS plot against Shiite Muslims.
Kuwait arrested the five on Friday on suspicion of planning attacks on Shiite places of worship after security personnel monitored their activities.
The Kuwaiti Public Prosecutor’s office said the Tunisians had entered the country and sought to monitor places of worship, survey their security conditions, and count the numbers of worshippers at several locations.
“They were trained to make explosives for the purpose of using them in these operations, and they agreed that each one of them would target a house of worship, and they went to the locations with the intention of killing its visitors. However, their attempt was foiled,” prosecutors said.
While the Public Prosecution continues its investigations into the defendants, sources told Al Qabas newspaper the suspects had admitted during questioning that they had been planning to attack three sites.
The sources told Al Qabas that the defendants had been communicating with ISIS leaders in Syria and Iraq for some time before their planned attacks in Kuwait.
In 2015, a suicide bomber, identified at the time as a Saudi national, killed 26 worshippers and wounded more than 200 at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait.
That blast followed a series of bomb attacks on Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia that were claimed by ISIS.
Since Friday's arrests, Kuwait has heightened security measures at its borders, with Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Sabah Al Salem visiting the Abdali crossing with Iraq on Saturday alongside the acting interior minister.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sun jukebox
Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)
This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.
Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)
The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.
Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)
Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.
Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.
Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)
An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)
Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
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6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
