Bahrain is beefing up security measures around the country’s mosques over threats made by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, the interior ministry said. 

The measures were taken after a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in neighbouring Kuwait last week, in which an ISIL member killed 27 people.

The interior ministry said that security volunteers trained by the civil defence would be deployed in different parts of the country to support the work of the police on Friday, when large numbers of Muslims flock to mosques to perform noon prayers.

ISIL commander Turki Al-Binali, a Bahraini who has been stripped of his citizenship, announced on Twitter last Saturday that “the next attack after Kuwait” would be in Bahrain.

Local Bahraini media said Al-Binali travelled to Syria in 2014 to join the upper ranks of the ISIL group.

His statement came a day after the attack in Kuwait, which the government said was carried out by a Saudi citizen, and for which ISIL claimed responsibility.

In May, ISIL targeted Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia on two consecutive Fridays. The group considers Shia Muslims to be heretics.

Call for national unity

In an apparent response to the threat, Bahraini officials met with Sunni and Shia religious figures to coordinate efforts to secure places of worship.

Abdullah bin Rashid Al Khalifa, the governor of the Southern Governorate, called on preachers and scholars to emphasise national unity and moderation in their sermons.

Shia Muslims comprise the majority of Bahrain’s population but the country is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.

Over the past four years, Bahrain witnessed unrest after the eruption of Shia-led protests inspired by the so-called Arab Spring uprisings in the Arab world. The protesters were met with a deadly crackdown by the police and dozens of activists were arrested.

The ISIL threat has spurred an increasingly reconciliatory narrative among some in Bahrain, as the government expressed its determination to ensure the safety and security of the country’s Shia population.

The Bahrain Foundation for Reconciliation and Civil Discourse on Thursday called for carrying out joint Sunni-Shia Friday prayers in some of the country’s mosques.

“This initiative coincides with the unfortunate events taking place in neighbouring countries where places of worship are being targeted and extremist ideas are being spread,” the foundation said in a statement.