MANAMA: Bahrain’s Chief of Public Security, Major-General Tariq bin Hassan Al Hassan said the Kingdom’s anti-terrorism efforts have yielded positive results with clear decline in number of terrorist activities.
General Tariq, during a Press conference maintained that despite few recent terrorist acts, the overall situation remained better as compared to the previous year.
The top police cop revealed that as part of the ongoing efforts to maintain security in the Kingdom, a dangerous terrorist has been arrested, while his partner has escaped to Iran.
The two terrorists bombed a police bus on October 27, resulting in the death of policeman Salman Anjam, and injuring nine others.
This was one of a series of terrorist crimes that were planned and executed by a cell linked to Iran-based terror fugitives and closely connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The disruption of the terror cell foiled a major plot to target public personalities in Bahrain and launch attacks with explosives on three oil pipelines.
The members of the terror cell had received intensive training at camps run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, where they were taught the use of explosives and guns. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards funded the cell and provided logistical support through the Iran-based fugitives.
In October 2011, the members of the cell travelled by land to Syria and then to Iran. Their passports were not stamped at the Syria-Iranian border. They travelled again to Iran in July 2017.
The terror cell members were:
1. Qassim Abdullah Ali Ahmed, also known as “Qassim Al Muamen”, 28. Currently a fugitive in Iran, his Bahraini nationality has been revoked. He was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for charges related to terrorism and for organizing training for terrorists.
2. Sadiq Jaffar Mohammed Abdullah Al Tooq, 36. Currently a fugitive in Iran and wanted on terror-related charges, including manufacturing and possessing homemade bombs
3. Mahdi Ebrahim Jassim Abdullah, 28. Currently a fugitive in Iran, sentenced in absentia to 30 years on terror charges, including bomb-making.
4. Zuhair Ebrahim Jassim Abdullah Abas, 37. Owns a restaurant in Sitra. Arrested. Took part in plotting and executing various acts of terrorism, and received explosives and weapons training in Iran. Arrested with an encrypted phone programmed in Iran and used to exchange encrypted messages between the terror cell’s members.
5. Mohammed Mahdi Mohammed Hassan, 39. Heavy truck driver. Fugitive, wanted on suspicion of plotting acts of terrorism, manufacturing bombs, and executing acts of terrorism. Sentenced in absentia for eight cases of robbery and rioting.
Cell members were trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on how to plan and execute bomb attacks. This included training on how to plant bombs. The types of explosives used included TNT, RDX and C4. They were also taught how to make moulds for shaped charges, and received training on the technical aspects of bomb-making. They were trained to handle tasers, AK-47s, M16s, RPGs, and pistols.
Cell members were then given specific training by Qassim Al Muamen. This included how to search for a secure location to store bomb-making material and guns, finding an appropriate location to set up a bomb-making workshop, preparing for terrorist activities and searching for sensitive targets.
Besides giving instructions, Qassim Al Muamen provided the terror cell members with the funding necessary to execute these terrorist acts.
Upon arrival from Iran, the cell members rented a flat which they used as a bomb-making workshop. Material to make explosives has been seized from them. Some of these materials had been kept in rubber tubes similar to the ones used in the blast that targeted police in November.
Among the terrorist acts executed by the cell were:
(1) Targeting security patrols in Sitra on 12 and 14 February 2017 with explosive devices made by the cell. Three private cars were damaged in the attacks, along with public and private property.
(2) Monitoring and targeting of a security patrol on 13 August 2017 using an explosive device.
(3) Plotting, making and setting off a bomb in Daih on 2 October 2017. Five policemen were injured while providing security services during the Ashoora season.
(4) Targeting a police bus on 27 October 2017 as it drove towards Manama along the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman highway near Jidhafs. A homemade bomb placed in a rubber tube was remotely detonated. The resultant blast caused the death of policeman Salman Anjam and wounded nine others, their injuries ranging from medium to severe. A private car was also damaged.
(5) The terror cell stole the number plates of private cars and heavy vehicles and used them in their terror operations by fixing them on the vehicles they used to commit crimes.
The General Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science took the necessary action and has referred the cases to the Public Prosecutor. The investigation to find and arrest the remaining terrorists is ongoing.
