A TERRORIST cell planted C4 explosives around the country which authorities defused just in time, a court heard.
The high-grade explosives and homemade bombs were allegedly planted by eight Bahraini defendants who are standing trial at the High Criminal Court for being part of a terrorist cell.
They set up secret bunkers and warehouses to store weapons and explosives smuggled into the country, the continuing trial heard.
The defendants were waiting for a ‘zero-hour’ order from their counterparts in Iran to carry out attacks on malls, a 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 a group called Saraya Al Ashtar (Al Ashtar Brigades).
Three of the alleged masterminds, who are at large in Iran, are being tried in absentia.
A detective described how the high-grade explosives could have caused major damage if officers had not defused them in time.
“Fingerprints of several of the defendants were lifted off the explosives,” the Bahraini investigator told judges. “The terrorist cell planted C4 bombs and homemade bombs in several locations, including in Salmabad.
“They were connected to a detonator and could be remotely triggered. The high-grade explosives are classified as mines which could inflect major damage to lightly-armoured vehicles when detonated.”
The GDN earlier reported that the 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 in 2019.
They returned and planned to bomb key establishments, including a university in Salmabad, in October last year. The suspects also placed ‘two devices’ inside a clothes shop at a shopping mall in September last year. Authorities swooped and arrested several of the defendants in connection with the incident and police also uncovered explosives and weapons placed in fridges hidden underground in Salmabad in the same month.
The trial has been adjourned until Monday for review.
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