Bahrain says it has broken up a banned anti-government
Shi’ite Muslim group behind a series of attacks and arrested
several of its members.

The state news agency said an investigation had revealed that
Saraya al-Ashtar had been formed in 2012 by two men with the
aim of destabilising the Western-allied kingdom through
attacks on security forces. It said the men were now in Iran.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain accuses Shi’ite Muslim Iran of fomenting
unrest among Bahrain’s mostly Shi’ite opposition. Iran denies
the accusation, but does champion the Shi’ite majority’s
cause.

Last year, Bahrain declared Saraya al-Ashtar and two other
anti-government groups terrorist organisations, the day after
a bomb killed two local policemen and an officer from the
United Arab Emirates.

A group calling itself Saraya al-Ashtar claimed
responsibility for the attack in a message on social media,
although this could not be authenticated.

Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, was rocked in
2011 by protests demanding greater democracy and more rights
for Shi’ites, many of whom say they are subject to political
and economic discrimination. Despite a heavy crackdown on
protest, sporadic bursts of unrest by Shi’ites continued for
more than two years, though these have now largely subsided.

The Bahrain News Agency published the names of 14 alleged
members of Saraya al-Ashtar. It said 12 were in custody,
while the two leaders, whom it named as Ahmed Yousif Sarhan,
known as Abumuntadhir, and Jassim Ahmed Abdullah, known as
Thualfaqar, were in Iran.

BNA said Sarhan and Abdullah had “facilitated” travel to Iraq
for three other members of the group for training in weapons
use, hostage taking and bomb making with the Shi’ite
Hezbollah Brigades. It said these three men had been arrested
and had confessed.

The agency said investigators had now transferred the case to
the prosecutor’s office to begin judicial proceedings.