Kuwait seeks death for 11 mosque bombing suspects

Kuwait seeks the death penalty for 11 out of 29 suspects being prosecuted for their alleged role in a deadly suicide bombing in a mosque last month, newspaper al-Qabas reported on Wednesday.

The Gulf state launched a security crackdown on Islamist militants after the June 26 attack claimed by Islamic State, when a Saudi suicide bomber blew himself inside a Shi’ite Muslim mosque, killing 27 worshippers.

The interior minister said this month the country is at war with hardline militants and officials have said the bombing, Kuwait’s worst militant attack, was aimed at stoking sectarian strife in the majority Sunni state, where the two sects have traditionally coexisted in peace.

“An informed source told al-Qabas that the public prosecutor demanded the execution by hanging for 11 defendants in the report it sent to the court,” the newspaper said.

State news agency KUNA said on Tuesday 29 people had been indicted on terrorism charges in relation to the attack, among them Kuwaitis, Saudis, Pakistanis and stateless residents. The charges ranged from premeditated murder to possession of explosives.

KUNA did not say whether a date had been set for the trial of the suspects.