A handout picture released by the Kuwaiti news agency (KUNA) on June 28, 2015 shows Fahd Suleiman Abdul Mohsen Al-Qabba’a, identified as the suicide bomber who carried out a deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group on the Shi’ite Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque in Kuwait City where he blew himself up, killing 26 and injuring 227 people on June 26, 2015. (AFP Photo/HO/KUNA)
The three Saudi brothers were arrested after a joint investigation by Saudi and Kuwaiti authorities led to strong suspicions over their involvement in “the sinful terrorist bombing that targeted the Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait,” Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry spokesman said.
Twenty-seven people, mostly worshippers, were killed and 227 injured in the bloodiest attack against Kuwait’s Shi’ite minority.
Authorities in Kuwait have identified the attacker as a 23-year-old Saudi national who flew to Kuwait City hours before he carried out the bombing. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which considers Shi’ites to be heretics, said it was behind the bombing.
“Two [of those arrested] were born in Kuwait and they have a fourth brother in Syria who is a member of the terrorist ISIS group,” Mansour Al-Turki said.
“In coordination with the security authorities in Kuwait, one [of the brothers] has been arrested in Kuwait and preparations to turn him over to the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] are underway.”
The second brother was arrested in Taif in western Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said, while the third was apprehended after a shootout with Saudi police.
Two Saudi policemen were taken to hospital after sustaining injuries in the firefight.
Mansour told Asharq Al-Awsat that the man arrested in Taif has no links to the attack that took place in the western city on Friday in which one policeman was killed and one injured.
Two of the suspects carried the explosives for the attack to Abdul Rahman Sabah Al-Aidan, an illegal resident in Kuwait who is believed to have driven the attacker to the mosque and is now in custody, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Investigations have shown that the explosives were of the same type used in the suicide bombings of two Shi’ite mosques in eastern Saudi Arabia in May.
Relatedly, none of the three suspects is on the most wanted list recently released by Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, a security source who preferred to remain anonymous told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The fourth brother has planned the attack and coordinated between his brothers and the other members of the cell from Syria, the source added.