Kuwait's security services say they have foiled a terrorist plot targeting vital infrastructure in the Gulf country and arrested a suspect linked to ISIS before he could carry out an attack.
The Interior Ministry on Wednesday said the suspect was arrested following “meticulous” security monitoring and surveillance operations.
Investigations found that the suspect had received training in explosives manufacturing and drone operation, and had built a drone with the intention of using it to target a vital facility, the ministry said.
The suspect has been referred to authorities for investigations and further legal action.
The ministry said its security services would continue efforts to monitor and confront activities and plots threatening Kuwait’s security and stability, stressing that it would deal firmly with any suspicious activities in accordance with the law.
Driven out of its former territories in Iraq and Syria by 2019, ISIS maintains cells in several countries further afield. Its activities in the Gulf included an attack at a mosque in Oman in 2024, which killed six people.
In 2024, Kuwaiti security forces arrested two citizens and three Tunisians in connection with an alleged ISIS plot against Shiites.
In 2015, a suicide bomber, identified at the time as a Saudi citizen, killed 26 worshippers and wounded more than 200 at a Shiite mosque in Kuwait.
In its most recent report on ISIS this month, the UN said the extremist group has tried to exploit the conflict in Iran by encouraging followers to take up arms. However, it said the organisation was "at a lower ebb", retaining its propaganda and ability to incite violence but lacking "coherent direction" in its network.
Gulf states have faced an array security challenges this year amid attacks by Iran and alleged domestic plots in sympathy with the Iranian regime. In March this year, Kuwait arrested dozens of people accused of links to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
In an operation, the Ministry of Interior said six people had confessed to espionage and terrorist activities, including training in "assassination skills". Five were Kuwaiti citizens. It said another 14 suspects, including Kuwaitis, Lebanese and Iranians, had been identified outside the country.
In a separate case, authorities detained 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese citizens affiliated with the Iran-backed group over a “sabotage plot” in the Gulf nation.
