Bahrain arrests 47, charges 290 in mass crackdown

Bahrain internal security forces. (AFP)

DUBAI: Bahraini police said Sunday they had arrested 47 people on charges linked to terrorism, including plots to assassinate “public figures,” as well as filing charges against another 290.
The government accuses Tehran of training “terrorist cells” in the tiny island state.
Iran denies involvement.
In a statement released by Bahrain’s police force on Sunday, the interior minister said law enforcement had arrested 49 “terrorist agents” and foiled attacks across the country, including planned killings of “officials and public figures.”
Police had also transferred the cases of 290 wanted persons and suspects to the public prosecutor’s office, it said.
The statement did not specify the dates of the arrests but said they were part of “one of the most important preventive operations,” triggered by “attacks on police” and a fire at a Saudi Aramco oil pipeline in Bahrain last year.
Bahrain’s parliament and king last year granted military courts jurisdiction to try civilians charged with “terrorism” — a vaguely defined legal term.