Dubai: Saudi Arabia and the UAE have expressed their support to Bahrain as the island kingdom conducted a security operation to restore public order in a village that resulted in 286 arrests.
“The security and stability of Bahrain are an integral part of the security and stability of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries,” an official Saudi source said, quoted by Bahrain News Agency (BNA) late on Tuesday.
The source stressed “the support of Saudi Arabia to the measures that Bahrain takes to protect security, stability and the safety of its citizens and residents, such as the latest taken by the Bahraini security agencies in the village of Duraz to protect public security and order and to tackle all terror attempts to undermine them.”
Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, welcomed the measures taken by Bahrain to extend the rule of law to the Duraz area.
"This is the normal situation. Pockets of chaos, terrorism, hiding weapons and harbouring criminals are an anomaly,” he posted on his Twitter account.
"We, in the Arabian Gulf countries, cannot accept entities that run parallel to the state or consider their existence natural. Based on such a premise, we welcome the steps taken by our brothers in Bahrain."
The minister added that "through the reactions of Iran and Hezbollah to the measures by the Kingdom of Bahrain, we recognise the sectarian and external nature of what was going on in Al Duraz. The masks have fallen and matters have become clear."
Earlier, Bahrain’s interior ministry said that police were deployed on Monday morning on a targeted security operation to Al Duraz to safeguard public safety.
“During the operation, police authorities came under attack by members of a terrorist cell throwing fire bombs, metal rods, knives and axes forcing the security authorities to respond proportionately.”
“A total of 286 arrests were made, including fugitives that had escaped from Jau Prison. Several terrorists and convicted felons were also apprehended with a large number of them hiding in the residence of Eisa Qassim,” the statement said, referring to a prominent leader of the Shiite community whose citizenship revocation in June last year made his followers set up vigils in Al Duraz.
The ministry said that followers took advantage of the situation to erect road blocks and barricades that prevented the free movement of residents, stalled their interests and put their safety at risk.
“During the successful security operation, forces were able to remove a series of illegal road blocks and barricades and traffic in the area has returned to normal,” the ministry said.
“Security forces remain deployed in the area to ensure the safety of civilians, and call on all parents to ensure the safety of their children and immediately relay to the authorities any information they may have regarding illegal firearms or dangerous substances that could be used in acts of terror.”
