EIGHT suspected members of a terrorist cell set up secret bunkers and warehouses to store weapons and explosives smuggled into the country, a court heard.
They were waiting for a ‘zero-hour’ order from their counterparts in Iran to carry out attacks on malls, university and other key establishments in Bahrain.
The chilling information was provided by a detective during the trial of the men, who have been accused of being part of Saraya Al Ashtar (Al Ashtar Brigades).
Three of the alleged masterminds, who are at large in Iran, are being tried in absentia.
“The (defendants) were paid money to set up warehouses which they used as a weapons depot,” a 30-year-old detective told judges.
“Arms and explosives smuggled from abroad were also stored in secret bunkers across the country.
“The defendants were waiting for a zero-hour order from their counterparts in Tehran to carry out attacks.”
The detective also revealed that the men had attempted to carry out explosions near a mall in A’ali.
“The hand-made bomb did not go off and they hid it in a sandy spot near the mall. Police confiscated the faulty device,” he said.
The GDN earlier reported that the Bahraini defendants, aged between 25 and 40, allegedly travelled to Iran where they had militia training in camps belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 2019.
They returned and planned to bomb key establishments including a university in Salmabad in October last year. However, authorities defused the homemade explosive device.
The suspects also placed ‘two devices’ inside a clothes shop at a shopping mall in September last year. Authorities confiscated them and arrested several of the defendants in connection with the incident.
Policemen also uncovered explosives and weapons placed in fridges hidden underground in Salmabad in the same month.
The trial has been adjourned until October 25 for review.
&uuid=(email))