Bahrain said on Thursday it had dismantled an Iranian-linked cell plotting attacks on its territory, arresting five suspects after finding bomb-making materials, guns and knives in their houses, Reuters reported.

Police said the five men had received military training in Iran and Iraq, according to a statement by Bahrain’s interior ministry.

The Asharq Al-Awsat reported on Friday that the five detained persons were members of a terrorist cell linked to the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the so-called Iraqi Hezbollah.

Security forces said that the suspects had received intensive military training in making bombs and carrying out terrorist activities at the camps of IRGC and Iraqi Hezbollah.

Bahraini Security Forces captured the terrorist network two weeks ago in a preemptive strike.

A source at the Ministry of Interior confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper the news that the cell is linked to people in Iran and the suspects arrested in Bahrain.

“A secret terrorist plot aided by the so-called Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the Hezbollah terrorist organization was foiled,” said the ministry.

“It targeted the security of the kingdom of Bahrain by plotting to carry out a series of dangerous bombings,” it added.

The ministry announced that its security forces had collected items suspected to be explosives and moved them to a safe location, away from the residential area where they were being stored.

The security forces discovered a number of weapons, communication devices and equipment used in detonating bombs. The police also seized daggers, knives covered with polyurethane bags and various currencies.

Investigations and testimonies of the five members of the cell revealed a series of important security information.

The five members are:

Mohammed Abduljalil Mahdi Jassim Abdullah, 28, a private company employee, who received military training in Iran that included the use of pistol and automatic weapons, such as Kalashnikov and PKG. He also received training in bomb-making and assembly and in the use of explosives such as TNT and C4. Ali Ahmed al-Musawi, living in Iran, coordinated the training and provided Mohammed with logistical support. The investigations revealed that when Mohammed returned to Bahrain, he decided with others to use a car repair workshop in Hamad Town to store bomb-making materials and weapons. The group built a hidden room to conceal the contraband. In addition to the weapons and explosives training he received abroad in 2013, the suspect also watched films of bombings conducted by the Hezbollah brigades in Iraq.

Mahmood Jassim Marhoon Mohammed Marhoom, 26, a private company employee, who received military training in Iran by the IRGC and in Iraq by the Hezbollah brigades.

Jassim Mansoor Jassim Shamloh, 25, a private company employee, who confessed to receiving batteries from the first suspect to be used in bomb-making and remote control devices. He hid the items in his father’s home in Hamad Town until the first suspect asked for them.

Ahmed Mohammed Ali Yousif, 23, who confessed to providing assistance to the third suspect by transferring the batteries, remote controls and wires for making bombs to his flat with full knowledge of their nature and purpose.

Khalil Hassan Khalil Ibrahim Saeed, 20, a student, received a number of batteries and remote controlled bomb detonators from the first suspect who asked him to hide them at his home. He had full knowledge of the nature and purpose of the items.

The Interior Ministry’s counterterrorism investigations continue as part of the ongoing national security operations. The ministry called any citizen who has information about suspicious activity to inform the authorities.

ncr-iran.org

farsnews.com

Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a new offensive on strongholds of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the northern countryside of Syria’s Aleppo province, killing and wounding dozens of jihadis, military sources reported on Wednesday.

Backed by the US-led coalition forces, the SDF bombed ISIS positions in central Manbij, north of Aleppo.

At least 100 ISIS militants were killed and dozens more were wounded.

“Under heavy bombardment by our forces, Daesh terrorists today suffered the heaviest losses in the Manbij operation,” a spokesman for the SDF told ARA News, using another acronym for ISIS.

“After shelling their headquarters in central Manbij, the terrorists escaped the area to hide inside residential neighbourhoods,” he said.

“We have collected more than 100 corpses of Daesh jihadists, and we also destroyed several ISIS machine guns and vehicles,” the official said.

This comes just one days after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) captured an ISIS headquarters in Western Manbij, that has been for long used by the radical group as a command centre and logistics hub.

“The Daesh [ISIS] headquarters, located in a hospital, was being used as a command center and logistics hub. The [SDF] also seized a significant amount of the city during the operation, which provided civilians the opportunity to escape,” the US-led coalition said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The SDF freed additional territory in the city of Manbij in the face of determined resistance from ISIL [ISIS],” it added.

aranews.net

The Syrian Arab Coalition captured an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant headquarters July 17 in the western part of the city of Manbij in Syria, according to a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve news release issued today.

The ISIL headquarters, located in a hospital, was being used as a command center and logistics hub, the release said.

According to the release, the SAC also seized a significant amount of the city of Manbij during the operation, which provided civilians the opportunity to escape.

Counter-ISIL Fight

The SAC continues to fight ISIL on four fronts within Manbij, carefully clearing territory toward the city center while ensuring the safety of any civilians who still remain, the release said.

ISIL continues to fight hard within Manbij’s center and has mounted local counterattacks against SAC forces, but the SAC is maintaining their momentum with support from coalition strikes, the release said.

Since the operation began the coalition has conducted more than 450 strikes near Manbij, the release said. These airstrikes destroyed ISIL heavy weapons, vehicles, fortifications, vehicle bombs, vehicle bomb-making facilities, armored vehicles, technical vehicles, bridges and caches. The destruction of these ISIL assets disrupts the terrorist group’s operations and makes them vulnerable in Manbij and on the Mar’a line, the release said.

The coalition-supported Syrian moderate opposition efforts in Manbij continue to weaken ISIL’s threat to Turkey, Europe, and the United States, the release said.

defense.gov

Armenia’s security forces say armed supporters of a jailed opposition leader are still holding five policemen hostage a day after attacking a police station in the capital and killing one officer and wounding four others.

The National Security Service said in Monday’s statement that one of the officers held hostage and also an ambulance driver were freed overnight as a result of prolonged negotiations and undefined “special measures.”

More than 20 armed men took over the police station in Yerevan on Sunday to demand the release of Jirair Sefilian, who was arrested last month.

Sefilian, a leader of the opposition group Founding Parliament, was charged with illegal acquisition and possession of weapons. His group has called for the government of the former Soviet republic to step down.

ap.org

Residents in several neighborhoods in the Iraqi city of Mosul reportedly staged an uprising against the ISIL terrorist group which holds the city, killing at least five militants

Armed clashes erupted between the residents of the Bab al-Jadid neighborhood in central Mosul and ISIL terrorists, al-Sumeriya news reported.

The uprising has led to the expulsion of the ISIL militants from their positions in the area and the death of two terrorists.

Two vehicles belonging to the terrorists were also burned, according to the report.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, further said that the residents of Mosul’s southern district of Hammam al-Alil also clashed with ISIL in the center of the district, killing three terrorists.

The source added that the residents seek to take full control of the district and to purge it of the terrorists.

According to the report, the residents have already raised the Iraqi flag over a number of the district’s buildings.

farsnews.com

Yemeni security officials say two car bombs targeting security checkpoints killed at least nine soldiers in the southern city of Mukalla, which was recently recaptured from al-Qaida.

The first attack on Monday was carried out by a suicide car bomber who rammed his vehicle into a checkpoint, killing at least nine soldiers. The officials had no immediate details about the second attack.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. No group claimed the attacks.

Al-Qaida’s Yemen affiliate ruled Mukalla for a year until the militants withdrew in April. The city has seen a number of suicide attacks in recent weeks, most carried out by an Islamic State affiliate. The two jihadi groups are fierce rivals, divided over leadership and ideology.

foxnews.com

Powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr instructed his followers on Sunday to target U.S. troops deploying to Iraq as part of the military campaign against Islamic State.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Monday the Pentagon would dispatch 560 additional troops to help Iraqi forces retake the northern city of Mosul in an offensive planned for later this year.

Sadr, who rose to prominence when his Mahdi Army battled U.S. troops after the 2003 invasion, posted the comments on his official website after a follower asked for his response to the announcement.

“They are a target for us,” Sadr said, without offering details.

The Mahdi Army was disbanded in 2008, replaced by the Peace Brigades, which helped push back Islamic State from near Baghdad in 2014 under a government-run umbrella, and maintains a presence in the capital and several other cities.

Sadr, who commands the loyalty of tens of thousands of supporters, is also leading a protest movement that saw demonstrators storm Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone government district twice this year, hampering parliament for weeks.

The new troop deployment, which is expected to happen within weeks, would raise the number of U.S. forces in Iraq to around 4,650, far below the peak of about 170,000 reached during the nearly nine-year occupation.

Other Shi’ite militias, particularly those backed by Iran, have made similar pledges to attack U.S. soldiers in the past year, but the only casualties since American forces returned to Iraq to battle Islamic State two years ago have come at the hands of the Sunni militant group.

reuters.com

Manama dissolves main Shia opposition group Al-Wefaq, accusing it of fostering violence in the island kingdom

A court in Bahrain dissolved the main Shia opposition group al-Wefaq on Sunday, accusing it of helping to foster violence and “terrorism” in the island kingdom.

The ruling comes amid an increasing crackdown on opposition figures in the Sunni-led, Shia-majority Gulf monarchy, which in 2011 crushed a widescale pro-democracy protest movement.

Al-Wefaq was shut down last month under an emergency court order after the Justice Ministry accused it of undermining the state, spreading sectarianism, and having connections to “terrorist” activities.

The official Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said the court ruled that al-Wefaq had taken aim at the “respect for the rule of law and the foundations of citizenship based on coexistence, tolerance and respect for others; provided an atmosphere for the incubation of terrorism, extremism and violence and for foreign interference in national affairs.”

Its funds would be claimed by the state treasury, BNA said.

Lawyers for al-Wefaq said they had not yet decided whether to appeal Sunday’s ruling.

They had withdrawn from the case after the judge refused their request to access the party offices to obtain documents they said were needed for their defence.

The ruling comes a day after authorities said they planned to prosecute Bahrain’s top Shia religious figure, 79-year-old Ayatollah Isa Qassim, for alleged illegal fund raising and money laundering.

Qassim, seen as the spiritual leader of al-Wefaq, was stripped of his citizenship last month, angering his supporters who have mounted a sit-in outside his home in a village north of the capital Manama, fearing his deportation or arrest.

Al-Wefaq’s political leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, was sentenced to nine years in prison at the end of May on charges that include attempting overthrow the regime and inciting sectarian hatred.

The crackdown has led the UN human rights office to call for the release of Bahraini political prisoners, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over restrictions on the opposition and moves against human rights activists.

Bahraini Shia complain of discrimination by the government. Since the authorities crushed street protests in 2011, demonstrators have clashed frequently with security forces, who have been targeted by several bomb attacks.

Bahraini authorities deny any discrimination. Bahrain has accused the opposition of undermining security and blamed the bombings on Iran and Lebanon’s armed Shia group Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah deny any involvement in Bahrain’s unrest.

aljazeera.com