ISIS In Kuwait: Authorities Dismantle Islamic State Group-Linked Network, Arrest 5 People

Kuwait on Thursday announced that it had uncovered a terrorist cell linked to the Islamic State group and detained five Kuwaitis fighting for the militant group. The arrests come just over a month after a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City was targeted by a suicide bomber belonging to a local branch of ISIS.

The individuals arrested confessed that they had received “courses about the doctrine of the terrorist organization [ISIS] … in addition to advanced training on using arms, before taking combat action in Syria and Iraq,” Kuwait’s official KUNA News Agency reported, citing a statement by the interior ministry.

Additionally, ISIS propaganda material, including ISIS flags, were also recovered from the house of Fahad Hamad -- one of the people arrested on Thursday. Mubarak Malfi, another cell member, is believed to have died in Iraq, KUNA News Agency reported, citing the ministry statement.

“Preemptive precautions will be in force against any terrorist acts and terrorists will be brought to justice,” the interior ministry reportedly said, in the statement.

The arrests are not linked to the June attack on a Shiite mosque in Kuwait’s capital, Reuters reported, citing an interior ministry source. Twenty-seven people were killed and over 200 were injured in the suicide attack, making it one of the deadliest bombings in the Sunni-majority nation in decades.