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Kuwait’s National Security Service announced on Wednesday the arrest of citizens who joined a banned group that aims to destroy the country’s basic systems, but did not mention the name of the group, which is expected to be “ISIS” given that previous security operations showed that it targets the country and seeks to recruit young people and teenagers.
A statement from the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry said: “The security services of the Ministry of Interior, represented by the National Security Directorate, arrested citizens who joined a banned organization aimed at undermining the country’s basic institutions. They also announced that members who decided to leave the country and join the organization were handed over to the prosecution to take necessary legal measures against them.”
The Islamic State, which has previously threatened Kuwait, is expected to be the intended target of the Interior Ministry’s announcement, but the ministry does not usually mention the group by name when announcing arrests and exposing networks involved in operations against the country. It has previously announced the arrest of citizens on charges of belonging to banned organizations and attempting to undermine national security.
Last May, the Kuwaiti Prosecution announced the detention of a citizen on charges of joining a banned group and planning terrorist activities in the country, as he posted video and audio recordings of the group’s actions and news supporting the group on social media sites.
Last January, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry announced it had foiled a plan by a terrorist group to target places of worship belonging to Shiites and kill people.
The country remains harassed by these groups, and observers of Kuwaiti affairs believe that the threat posed by the Islamic State to Kuwait is largely due to its geographical proximity to Iraq, which was previously the main theater of the group’s activities and its bloody war.
They warned that extremist groups are seeking to enter Kuwait through some of their forces and figures who adopt religious ideologies that are closer to extremism, thus providing a suitable base for spreading the ideas of these groups and finding supporters for them, especially among young children and youth.
An investigation by security services in March last year revealed that a child had communicated with ISIS members through the Telegram app, pledging allegiance to their “prince” and receiving information from them about the use of explosives. This happened shortly after a network affiliated with the group that planned a bombing of a Shia mosque in the country was dismantled.
Kuwaitis still remember the story of the child, the son of a former member of the Kuwaiti parliament, who was recruited by the Islamic State through video games about four years ago, with a member of the group participating with him over the Internet, who later lured him into accepting the extremist ideology and asked him to recruit other children with the aim of using them to carry out bombings against places of worship and commercial complexes.
In 2015, an explosion occurred at the Imam Sadiq Mosque in the Shaq area of Kuwait, which is used by Shiites for Friday prayers. The incident killed at least 27 people, all Shiites, and injured 1 other person. 227 people.
Kuwait is making tremendous and visible efforts in the fight against terrorism, in cooperation with a number of allies and friends in the region and around the world, through practical measures on the ground and through the enactment of legislation and laws criminalizing terrorism.
In June 2023, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism and exchange experiences. Ambassador Hamad Mishaan, Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Development and International Cooperation, said: “The memorandum of understanding will strengthen cooperation, exchange of experiences, training of young people and relevant national personnel in combating terrorism, and cooperation with the United Nations Office to support international efforts in the field of combating terrorism.”
He noted that UNOCT Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov praised the role played by Kuwait in the fight against terrorism and said that “the signed memorandum of understanding is one of the most important memorandums of understanding signed in this regard”. He added that the two sides agreed on a training program for Kuwaitis and held special workshops in the field of combating terrorism and issued an invitation to Voronkov to visit Kuwait.
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