ISIS bombing of a Shia mosque in Kuwait left dozens of dead

Kuwaiti Shia mosque after deadly bombing
(Image: BBC)

A deadly bombing was carried out on Friday, 26 June, inside of the Shia mosque in Kuwaiti capital, Kuwait. An explosion occurred during the Friday midday prayer, when the mosque was packed with the worshippers, as there is also a time of a Holy month of Ramadan for the Muslims.

A suicide bomber has reportedly entered the mosque and joined the worshippers after he blew off his explosive device, killing and injuring dozens of people.

According to the Kuwaiti Health Minister Ali Al-Obaidi, at least 27 people were killed and 222 wounded in an attack. Many of those wounded are in a critical condition. Local hospitals were put in state of emergency in order to deal with the injured, as the doctors call on people to donate blood.

The death toll in this attack was the highest in the history of an oil-rich Gulf state.

National mourning was declared in Kuwait on Saturday, 27 June. Thousands of mourners have attended the mass funeral of those slain in the mosque attack. People were carrying the coffins with Kuwaiti flag and there were also black flags presented, as a sign of mourning. People were chanting that Sunni and Shua Muslims are btprothers.

Kuwaiti government held an emergency meeting regarding this terrorist attack and ordered the state police and security forces to be placed on alert in order to confront terrorism in the country. All the necessary security measures were taken, the territory around the mosque was sealed by the armed forces and police, while the roads leading to the scene were blocked. Special security operation is ongoing in Kuwait as there are suspicions that an assailant had an accomplice. A full-scale investigation was launched as well.

Witnesses of an attack claimed that an assailant targeted the rear rows where there were nearly 2000 worshippers.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Friday mosque attack in Kuwait. A militant named Abu Suleiman Al-Muwahdid of an ISIS affiliated group Najd Province, based in Saudi Arabia, was the assailant, who bombed the mosque that served the purpose of spreading the false Shia teachings, according to the statement posted by ISIS on social networks.

ISIS considers Shia Muslims being infidels and targets them in their terrorist attacks. The same group, Najd Province, has claimed responsibility for the recent bombings of the Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia as well.

Kuweiti police has reportedly arrested several people who are suspected to be involved in the bombing. Interrogation of the suspects was carried out already. In addition to that the car that brought a suicide bomber to the mosque and left immediately after an explosion was also identified and found. An owner of the vehicle, Kuwaiti citizen, was also arrested, while the police is investigating who was the driver of the car on the day of attack. 

It’s worth mentioning also that Kuwaiti Court has tried several people over the past weeks, accusing them of affiliation with ISIS and sentencing them to the jail terms.

Kuwaiti Islamic groups and organizations have denounced an attack happened in the Shia mosque.

Many countries including EU countries, USA, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Russia, Iran, Spain and others have strongly condemned an attack that became the first on the territory of Kuwait.