Bahrain jails 24 for forming Daesh cell

Saudi security forces and forensic personnel inspect the site of a suicide bombing that targeted the Shiite Al-Anoud mosque in the coastal city of Dammam on May 29, 2015. Some of the suspected culprits in the attack were among 24 Daesh terrorists sentenced to prison by a Bahrain court on Thursday. (AFP)

DUBAI, UAE: A Bahraini court on Thursday sentenced 24 people for belonging to a Daesh group cell, stripping 13 of them of their citizenship, the prosecution said.
One member was jailed for life after being convicted of forming a branch of the terrorist group and recruiting others, while the rest were each sentenced to 15 years in jail.
Only eight defendants are held by authorities while 16 others remain at large.
The cell ringleader was accused of recruiting two others into Daesh, and helping one of them travel to Syria to receive military training from the terrorists, public prosecutor Ahmed Al-Hammadi said.
The pair were also tasked with recruiting others who joined Daesh abroad.
Members were deemed to have fought for Daesh, while the cell used social media to incite members of the military and security forces to “join their terrorist group,” the prosector said.
The group also “plotted suicide attacks by members in Bahrain against places of worship, like the attacks by the terrorist group in neighboring countries,” Hammadi said in an apparent reference to attacks on Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia last year.
Bahrain is part of the US-led coalition that is conducting air strikes against Daesh in Syria.