Manama: Kuwaiti security authorities have “taken a pre-emptive move, uncovering a cell of the terrorist organisation Daesh,” the Ministry of Interior announced early on Thursday.

The arrests come one month after a deadly bombing at a Shiite mosque.

Authorities arrested four men while the fifth was killed in a “terrorist” operation in Iraq, the ministry said in a statement. All the members are Kuwaiti nationals.

Four cell members have allegedly taken part in fighting in Iraq, including the member who was killed, while another “facilitated and supported their travel to Iraq to take part in terrorist operations,” the ministry said.

The detainees confessed they had received “indoctrination courses on the terrorist group and its deviant thoughts, in addition to advanced practical training on using firearms before taking part in combat action in Syria and Iraq,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

All the suspects were born between 1982 and 1990.

The suspect who died in Iraq was identified as M.M. and was born in 1986, the ministry said.

Another was identified as F.H. born in 1990. Security authorities found in his house “takfiri books” that called for fighting and carrying out terrorist attacks as well as a flag of the terrorist group, Daesh.

M.H. born in 1986, and F.N. born in 1982, had joined the group in Mosul and took part in combat, the ministry said.

M.F. born in 1990, who facilitated the suspects’ travel to Iraq to take part in terrorist operations, was identified as the fifth member of the cell.

The ministry vowed it would spare no effort in clamping down firmly on anyone who might attempt to undermine the homeland’s security, Kuna said.

An interior ministry source said the individuals named in Thursday’s statement were not connected to the June 26 attack on the Shiite mosque. Authorities are prosecuting another group of suspects in that case.

Pre-emptive precautions will be in force against any terrorist acts and terrorists will be brought to justice.

The case has been referred to the public prosecution for legal action, the ministry said without stating when the arrests were made.

Daesh claimed a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City in June that killed 26 people and wounded hundreds.

Authorities have charged 29 people, including seven women, in connection with the worst attack in the Gulf state.

A trial is set to open on August 4, which will see five of the suspects tried in absentia.

— with inputs from AFP and Reuters