Seven sentenced to death over Kuwait mosque attack

Kuwait has sentenced seven people to death over the suicide bombing of a Shia mosque, which left some 27 people dead, international reports claim.

The attack, which occurred on 26th June, targeted the Imam Sadiq Mosque in a busy area to the east of Kuwait City, and left over 220 people injured.

The BBC reports that a group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attack, and  eight other suspects were given terms of between two and 15 years in jail while 14 others were acquitted.

“The court draws attention to the dangers of this extremist ideology that resorts to terrorism for its implementation," the AFP quoted Judge Mohammad al-Duaij saying at the ruling.

Duaij reportedly called on the authorities to root out jihadi ideology, and Kuwait says the man who carried out the bombing was a Saudi citizen named Fahd Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Qaba'a.

As well as seven Kuwaitis, those facing trial over the attack included five Saudis, three Pakistanis, 13 members of Kuwait's stateless Bidun group, and one fugitive with unidentified nationality, the BBC adds, explaining that the nationalities of those sentenced to death are not clear.

The attacks came in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when IS had urged its followers to mount attacks.

IS regards Shia Muslims as heretics and says it was behind the attack. In May it carried out bombings on consecutive Fridays on Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia, and it has also carried out similar attacks in neighbouring Yemen and Iraq.

Notably, the same day also brought attacks on Tunisia’s tourist resort in Sousse, which left 39 people dead, as well as an attack in a chemicals factory in Lyon, France, which left one person dead and another two injured, but no link between the three attacks has been established yet.