MANAMA: His Excellency Interior Minister Lt. General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, who met with the cross section of the public, said the security situation in Bahrain has been improved, made major arrests and foiled major attacks in 2017.
The Minister while addressing the gathering said that 47 terrorists had been arrested last year during string of security operations following the many deadly attacks on the security personnel and public by terrorists in in 2017.
Most of arrested terrorists were members of three groups (Saraya al-Ashtar, Saraya Al Muqawama Al Sha’biya and Saraya al-Mukhtar).
These groups have been internationally designated as terrorist organisations and their members as terrorists, having proven to the world that they had committed terrorist acts.
As part of community partnership and reinforcement of interaction with national, official and public organisations, the Minister met public figures, including religious scholars, members of the Council of Representatives and the Shura Council, representatives of human rights organisations, media editors-in-chief and journalists, businessmen, lawyers, physicians, owners of majalis, dignitaries, and heads of sports clubs, social and youth centres on Sunday.
“The general indications at present show stability in the security situation in the Kingdom. I want to inform you about some important public security-related matters in the context of transparency and community partnership that all of us want to sustain in the interest of national security.
“Here I should highlight some important terrorist operations carried out in 2017. I have chosen four key operations. We start with the Jau jailbreak that targeted police personnel and led to the death of Policeman Abdulsalam Saif. Another operation was in February when First Lt Hisham Al Hamadi was attacked and killed. In June a police patrol was targeted in Deraz resulting in the death of Policeman Abdulsamad Haji while a number of policemen were injured. In October a security bus was targeted on Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway and led to the death of Policeman Salman and injuries to a number of personnel. There were other operations in the same period that we didn’t highlight.
“With these developments on the security front, efforts have been intensified and operations coordinated to limit any escalation in the security situation and win through the initiative in the field. A comprehensive operation was initiated to gather information about the active organisations and their members, in coordination with the National Security Agency and other security agencies. This operation continued for a time and even as it was on, some terrorist incidents occurred such as the oil pipeline blast in Buri in November.
“The observation of the situation as it developed, and the ongoing operations, showed that terror cells were responsible for storing weapons and bomb-making material and for transporting and distributing bombs and cash.
“Those envelopes that you see contain BD50 each as reward, unfortunately not for police but murderers and shows that murder is cheap, and committing acts of terror and vandalism can be rewarding. The cells are run by individuals in Iran who coordinate with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Popular Crowd Forces in Iraq (Al-Hashd al-Shaabi) and the Hezbollah in Lebanon to train terrorists. This fact has been highlighted in the past and continues to be highlighted.”
“I want to affirm that those persons would be held accountable and if the countries they are living in do not cooperate with the Interpol and ignore the Red Notice or bilateral coordination, then those individuals will have no civil rights or right to stay among us. This is what we will work to achieve.
“After a vigorous operation, by the grace of Allah the targets were identified and classified according to the dangers they posed. Thereafter, a security plan was put in place to target the sources of risks and threats to the homeland on the security map.”
Arrest of 47 main terrorists.
Foiling of terrorist crimes including attempts to assassinate officials and public figures, targeting of police officers, policemen and security patrols, arson and vandalism targeting oil establishments to hit the national economy, and plots to vandalise and disrupt national celebrations.
Arrest of a number of dangerous fugitives accused in earlier terrorist crimes. The security authorities carried out 105 security missions, including search of 42 sites and warehouses. A total of 290 fugitives and suspects were referred to the Public Prosecution and a quantity of weapons, equipment and explosives seized. The Public Prosecutor’s office will release the details of its investigations later.
Identification of the intentions and capabilities of the terrorists, where they were trained and their areas of operations.
The compilation of the intelligence information on the size of a group and its affiliates inside and outside the country.
A follow up to arrest the remaining fugitives.
