KUWAIT: Kuwait detained the owner of a car that took a bomber to a Shia mosque to carry out the country’s worst ever militant attack, officials said yesterday, as thousands calling for national unity turned out to bury some of the 27 killed.
Militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing against 2,000 worshippers praying at the Imam Al Sadeq mosque on Friday.
Officials said the bombing was clearly meant to stir enmity between majority Sunnis and minority Shias and harm the comparatively harmonious ties between the sects in Kuwait.
In a statement, the information ministry said Kuwait would faced the situation with “unity and solidarity”. It reiterated what it called the government’s strong stance on the freedom of religion and opinion, noting these were rights protected by the constitution.
The interior ministry, which reported the vehicle owner’s arrest, said it was now looking for the driver, who vanished shortly after Friday’s blast.
A security source said “numerous arrests” had been made in connection with Friday’s bombing.
At the burial site in the Sulaibikhat district, some waved Kuwaiti flags while others bore the large mourning banners, in red, black or green, that are typical of Shia funerals.
One group of mourners said they had travelled from Qatif in Saudi Arabia, where 21 people were killed by an Islamic State suicide bombing in May.
Two Iranian nationals were among those killed, foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham was quoted as saying by Iranian state media yesterday.
Shias are between 15 and 30 percent of the population of Kuwait, a mostly Sunni country where members of both communities live side by side with little apparent friction.
“We will cut the evil hand that interferes with our homeland’s security,” Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Khaled Al Sabah was quoted as saying by state news agency KUNA.
Kuwait has stepped up security to the highest level at state-run oil conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) and its affiliates, KUNA also reported.
REUTERS
