Country in safe hands, says Interior Minister

Manama

In the light of the latest incident of the seizure of large quantities of explosives and bomb-making materials from a warehouse in Dar Kulaib village, Interior Minister Lt-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa assured that the country was in safe hands and the security personnel of the Kingdom were ready to tackle any untoward situation.

Highlighting the gravity of the terrorism-related cases in the Kingdom, the Interior Minister said that initiatives were needed to strengthen the country’s internal frontline as the danger becomes bigger.

“We cannot allow national bonding being affected by extremists with foreign agendas,” he stressed while speaking in a meeting with First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Representatives Ali Al Aradi, in the presence of members of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee, MPs and Chief of Public Security Major-General Tariq Al Hassan‫ yesterday.

Commenting on the recent bomb blasts in mosques in Saudi Arabia, the Interior Minister said: “In Bahrain, we are dealing with individuals trained in terrorism, weapons and explosives smuggling. We seized explosives from a factory in Salmabad in 2012 and foiled the trafficking of explosives by boat in 2013.”

“This year there have been three main cases: Bahrain Customs seized explosive-making materials on King Fahad Causeway, Saudi Customs foiled the trafficking of explosives from Bahrain and security authorities uncovered a terrorist group, “Saraya Al Ashtar," whose members received terrorism training in Iraq and Iran,” he elaborated.

Shaikh Rashid remarked that despite the reduction in the public security budget, the police would leave no stone unturned in ensuring the security of the nation.

“In 2007 when a five-year BD150 million budget to develop the Interior Ministry was presented, it was approved by the Finance and Economic Committees of the Representatives and Shura Councils. This helped in training the policemen,” he recalled.

During the meeting, Ali Al Aradi extended the support of the Council of Representatives for the security institutions through the approval of the government's action plan.

The Chief of Public Security highlighted the foiling of a series of terrorist acts and the confiscation of explosives between 2012 and 2015.  “Most of the suspects were arrested. The remaining fugitives are being chased in cooperation with Interpol,” he added.