Bahrain’s Parliament praised security forces for foiling an extremist plot to blow up two ATMs of the country’s national bank. The Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee condemned the “cowardly terrorist act aimed at subverting security and stability and endangering innocent people’s lives”. The committee, led by Mohammed Al Buainain, said it supports all legal and security measures needed to maintain national security and protect the island’s inhabitants. The committee said that such attempted attacks would not derail planned development projects. Officers from the National Security Agency last Wednesday prevented the attack on ATMs at branches in Al Naim, in Manama, and Jidhafs, west of the capital. They defused two bombs and launched an investigation. It led to the arrests of several people, believed to be the planners of the attacks and those who placed the devices. Several terrorist attacks occurred in Bahrain in recent years. It accuses Iran of supporting hardline cells within its Shiite majority. Last August, Bahrain announced its plans to "study all issues related to extremism and counter-terrorism, funding of terrorism and money laundering", with a royal decree to form a <a href="http://www.thenationalnews.com/world/gcc/bahrain-to-set-up-committee-to-counter-money-laundering-and-terrorism-1.1064626">committee to counter extremism, money laundering and terrorism</a>.
