A forensic expert gathers evidence at the site of the blast

Teenage bomber blows himself up in Bahrain

MANAMA, 0 hours, 36 minutes
ago

A blast that killed a teenager, who allegedly tried to plant an explosive device, shook nearby buildings and shattered glass windows in Bahrain, according to an eyewitness.

The Pakistani man came forward with details of the explosion that happened in East Eker at around 3am yesterday (July 15), which he said happened minutes after a group of men gathered at a nearby under-construction building, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

The alleged bomber has been identified as 18-year-old Bahraini Qassim Mohsen Ali Abdullah, who died when the bomb went off near a police patrol.

The Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into the blast, which it said intended to target police.

It added that the teenager returned to Bahrain after a two-week trip to Iran.

“The operations room received a call at 3.23am on Wednesday from a local private security guard who reported hearing an explosion,” read a ministry statement.

“Police arrived at the location and found the deceased individual.

“The police immediately secured the crime scene, and all necessary steps were taken to collect evidence and ensure all legal procedures were followed.

“Initial investigations have indicated that the deceased individual was a secondary school student who returned to Bahrain in May after a two-week trip to Iran.”

The Pakistani witness, who lives in a labour accommodation in the area, told the GDN he was looking outside a second-storey window when he noticed the group standing around 200 metres away from the blast site.

“I was awake at around 3.10am to supervise the workers who were about to board a bus to head out for a job when I received a call saying there were men in the open area behind the accommodation and there could be trouble,” he said on the condition of anonymity.

“I went to the second floor and from the window I saw a man trying to put an object near a wall, it was not a cylinder but a small object, and another eight men were standing around 200 metres away from him.

“The device exploded and thick white fumes filled the area and by that time we had informed the police and within minutes they reached the scene and closed the area from inside and from the highway.”

He said the teenager’s hand was ripped apart by the sheer force of the explosion, which shattered the glass windows of the labour camp.

“The object exploded in his face and ripped apart his hand, a part of which fell inside our camp next to the toilet downstairs,” he said.

“The blast shook the building and shattered one of the windows on the first floor of our accommodation.

“The man died instantly.

“As soon as he went down, one of the men ran towards him crying and was trying to pull his body away but the others dragged him away and they all ran away.”

The blast happened in the same area where police officer Imran Ahmed Mohammed, 19, died when he was hit by an explosive projectile following a bomb blast October 19, 2012.

The Pakistani witness said groups of rioters gathered in nearby under-construction buildings, almost every day, to attack police.

“These men often gather late in the evening and then make some trouble or the other, which is almost every other day, targeting the police who are stationed near a wall on the side of the highway,” he said.

“Their attacks affected our employees in the past, so we have informed men to keep us posted whenever they see something going wrong.

“They throw stones at our accommodation if we switch the lights on and sometimes part of the objects they throw at the police, like metal chips, injure our men if they are outside the building.

“Police don’t come into this area due to fear.”

However, Abdullah’s relatives were still in shock yesterday and refused to believe he was planting a bomb.

“He was a fun-loving person and used to go fishing or walking with his friends until late at night, especially during Ramadan,” said his sister-in-law, who wished to remain anonymous.

“We don’t believe he was planting a bomb because he was not into any such activities.

“He completed his high school and was waiting to join university after the summer.”  

He is survived by his father, who is a fisherman, mother and 10 siblings – five brothers and five sisters.  

The GDN earlier reported that 23 men were convicted in connection with the death of policeman Imran Ahmed Mohammed.

Three of them were found guilty of premeditated murder and jailed for life, while six were jailed for 15 years each for their part in the crime.

Thirteen others were also handed 15-year jail sentences in absentia, while a 17-year-old received a reduced sentence of three years due to his age.

The village has been plagued by riots and co-ordinated attacks on police by violent opposition groups allegedly supported by Iran. The GDN reported in May this year that on duty policeman Mahmood Fareed, 24, was killed in a blast, while another was injured in March in an explosion which damaged two cars.

In April, the charred body of fugitive Hussain Ahmed Sharaf, 22, was found in his West Eker house following a blast that occurred as he was making a homemade bomb and in December last year two policemen were injured when a homemade bomb exploded. – TradeArabia News Service