Kuwait says 24 arrested over ‘financing of terror’

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox

Kuwait's interior ministry said the financing was "part of an organised activity involving the collection of funds under religious pretexts".

Kuwait's interior ministry said the financing was "part of an organised activity involving the collection of funds under religious pretexts".

PHOTO: MOI_KUW/X

Google Preferred Source badge

KUWAIT CITY – Kuwait has arrested 24 people as part of an investigation into the “financing of terrorist entities”, the authorities said late on April 11, without revealing who was involved.

A security source told AFP that five former Kuwaiti lawmakers were among those detained.

Since Iran began attacking Kuwait and other Gulf states in March as part of the Middle East war, the authorities across the region have moved against individuals and organisations suspected of links to or supporting Tehran.

Kuwait’s interior ministry on April 11 did not mention any particular country or organisation but said it had “thwarted a plot targeting the undermining of the homeland’s security and the financing of terrorist entities and organisations”.

“The State Security Agency succeeded in apprehending 24 citizens, one of whom had his citizenship revoked, in possession of financial sums linked to illicit activities,” it added in a statement on X.

The ministry said the financing was “part of an organised activity involving the collection of funds under religious pretexts... in preparation for their transfer in accordance with instructions from outside the country”.

In March, Kuwait arrested six people linked to Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group who it said were planning “assassinations” in the Gulf state.

Hezbollah has repeatedly denied having any presence in Kuwait. AFP

See more on