Kuwait detains citizen for planning ‘terrorist acts’ against US forces in country

Kuwait has detained a citizen for planning “terrorist acts” within the Gulf country, including against American armed forces, the Public Prosecution announced on Thursday.

The man, whose identity was not revealed, was detained on charges of joining a “banned organization and planning terrorist acts inside the country,” the statement said.

The individual reportedly also published audio and video content of the organization’s activities and news on social media. The organization was not named.

The authorities also said in the statement that the man learnt to build explosives and incite others “with the aim of blowing up camps belonging to American armed forces.”

The defendant reportedly confessed to the charges, leading to the arrest of other accused individuals.

In January 2024, Kuwait’s interior ministry reported that security forces foiled a plan by a ‘terrorist’ cell that intended to target places of worship belonging to the Shia sect.

It led to the arrest of three Arabs belonging to a terrorist organization. No further detail was provided.

Kuwait hosts several US military bases. In 2015, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a packed Shia Muslim mosque, killing 27 people. It marked one of the deadliest militant attack in decades. ISIS claimed responsibility.