Major-General Tareq Al Hassan the Kingdom’s Public Security Chief on Monday said that the four security operations which unearthed a major plot were not a pressure ploy.
General Tariq was responding to a question whether these operations and arrests would be used to pressurise the opposition to come back to the National Dialogue.
“I am a police chief and can only talk about the law and order and security issues and make sure that no one will be accused without a thorough investigation and due legal process,” he added.
“This press conference comes within the framework of the Ministry of Interior keenness to keep the national and international public opinion informed on the recent security developments as well as to highlight the outcomes of the intensive efforts exerted to maintain security, order and combat all acts of terrorism,” he added.
“In line with efforts, the Public Security Officers managed on Saturday the 28th and Sunday the 29th of December 2013 to seize and foil four operations, highlighting that these operations were linked to each other.
“According to the investigations, which revealed plans to carry out terrorist acts, security deployment has been intensified. This was done through increasing the number of security check points whether on land or in the territorial waters of Bahrain in order to enhance security and maintain order. All these efforts were crowned with success.”
The First Operation: Defusing a Car Bomb • The Public Security Forces managed to dismantle a car bomb, after the presence of two cars raised the suspicion of the Patrol Directorate Operations in two different areas in Hoora. It became clear after examining the information of these two cars that they both had been reported stolen. At 1400 hours, one of the Patrol Directorate Operations informed the main operating room of the presence of a stolen car found parked in Hoora. Immediately, Police patrols from the Capital Governorate Police Directorate arrived at the scene and shut down the streets around the area. A specialized team was called to the scene. They examined the car and discovered that it had explosive devices. The Bomb Squad and the Civil Defence started their investigations straightaway and managed to dismantle the car bomb and to neutralize the explosives found inside it. A gas cylinder, two fuel plates, and a homemade pipe bomb were found connected to a remote control phone. All contents of the car and forensic evidence were collected and preserved, and investigations are still ongoing to capture the perpetrators of this terrorist act. The presence of another car in a different area in Hoora also raised the suspicion of a police patrol. Nothing was found after it was examined
The Second Operation: Based on the findings of the General Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Forensic Evidence, on the infiltration and smuggling of wanted persons and arms through the sea boarder, a coast guard deployment plan was implemented with the support of the police air patrol, and in coordination with the Royal Bahrain Naval Force. The coast guard radar was able to locate a boat with a number a people aboard heading out of the coast of Karranah village towards the north. The boat was followed and stopped 10 marine miles away from the Kingdom’s coastline. The target was immediately followed with the support of the police air patrols and a number of coast guard boats until it was cordoned and stopped at 1440 hours after a pursuit along the east of Al Jarem marine area, 10 marine miles away from Bahrain coastline. The boat was found to be 29 feet long with two engines, each of 200 horsepower, 13 wanted people for security cases were aboard, one of which is a Saudi national. They were carrying their passports, different currencies, mobile phones, as well as clothes and personal belongings. The operation was visually documented, and investigations are ongoing.
The Third Operation: In light of the deployment plan of coast guard patrols mentioned earlier, which was implemented based on proactive information, that were the results of investigations carried out by the General Directorate of Criminal Investigations and Forensic Evidence, on infiltration and smuggling through the sea boarder of arms into the Kingdom. Using the coast guard radar, the target was located 118 marine miles off north eastern Bahrain, in international waters, sailing towards Bahrain. The target was followed until it entered territorial waters in Eastern AlJarem, and with the support of the police air patrols, it was seized at 1650hours, 2 marine miles away from the Karranah village coast. The target was found to be a boat of 29 feet long with two engines, each engine is 200horsepower. Two Bahrainis were on board of the boat, the following items were found on board:- 38 explosives, investigations showed to be C4.- 31 Claymore blocks, explosive material to be used against individuals.- 12 EFP armor-piercing explosives.- 6 explosive devices containing magnets.- 30 Nokia mobile phones, with batteries.- One satellite phone (Thurrayya), with SIM card.- 29 circuit boards to be fixed on mobile phones in order to set off bombs- One PK machine gun, and 12 cartridges.- A large number of machine gun bullets.- 2 boxes containing a large number of Ignition capsules.
3 fuses (explosive)- 50 Iranian made hand bombs.- 295 commercial detonators on which it was written “made in Syria”- C4 and TNT explosives have been found so far.The operation was documented visually, and investigations are ongoing in this case
Fourth Operation: In light of the research and investigation work and following the operation of locating the boat during an attempt to smuggle a quantity of explosives, weapons and ammunition through the territorial waters of the Kingdom, the investigations led to locating more than one site that stored smuggled materials. The police were able to raid three suspected locations which led to finding the following materials:- 6 explosive blocks with magnetic specifications- 4 rectangular blocks wrapped in white tape and containing explosive materials.- An amount of explosive powder.- 11 mobile phones- 4 electrical circuits- 4 hand bombs resembling the ones found on the seized boat- 56 commercial detonators (made in Syria).- One black gun, in addition to a number of bullets.- A number of additional materials: A transparent polythene bag containing gray explosive material wrapped in scotch tape. Red cylindrical shaped bullet. Cylindrical shaped bottle containing a number of iron rods
“Two explosive material blocks 6 Kalashnikov storages fully loaded with bullets. 4 explosive devices, Wireless device, a number of detonator devices. Ongoing research and investigation is still taking place.”