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Arrests of Sunni Extremists in Bahrain Go Unnoticed

Written byFaten Bushehri

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Posted 14 July 2015 20:21 GMT
Salman Turki, a Bahraini member of ISIS, allegedly killed in Fallujah, Iraq, tweets @FreedomPrayers

Salman Turki, a Bahraini member of ISIS, allegedly killed in Fallujah, Iraq, tweets @FreedomPrayers. This news was not reported on mainstream media in Bahrain.

Bahraini authorities have recently arrested several Bahrainis in connection with the ISIS amid a media blackout and a hushed down arrest operation.

Bahraini ISIS fighter Turki Albinali issued a public threat about two weeks ago announcing the next terrorist attack will be in Bahrain on July 3rd. Authorities have since tightened security, taking extra measures to prevent attacks on Shia mosques like the ones that happened in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

The arrest of Bahraini Sunni extremists has poked the bear of Bahraini ISIS fighters abroad, who shared photographs of their detained colleagues on social media, expressing their dissatisfaction. In some cases, they directed threats to the Bahraini government for arresting the “Sunni people” who are “defending Islam” while protecting the Shia Rawafidhs. Adherents of the ISIS doctrine, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, refer to followers of Shia Islam as Rawafidh, or those who have rejected the faith, which is used as a derogatory term.

A new hashtag is being used to simultaneously criticize and warn the Bahraini government. The Arabic hashtag literally means “rabies-infected Bahraini Ministry of Interior (MOI)“.

Abu Laden Alharbi, a Bahraini ISIS fighter shared photographs of those arrested recently during the holy month of Ramadan using that hashtag, calling the police “Gangs of the tyrant Hamad”, in reference to the country's King Hamad.

Sunnis in Bahraini jails
Saleh Alblooshi
Age: 21 years
He was arrested on 16 Ramadan from his place of work

Sunnis in Bahraini jails
Omar Alfajri
Age: 18 years
Arrested on 16 Ramadan after raiding his house, God damn them

These arrests are not the first of their kind in the region. Several men were reportedly arrested in Oman on May 28th and turned over to the Bahraini authorities.

Nasser Al-Hajjaji
He was arrested at Oman airport and then extradited him to Bahrain
Charge: because he wants to support the religion (Islam)!

Sunnis in Bahraini jails
Mohammed Massad
Age: 20 years
Was arrested in Oman Date: May 28, 2015

A Twitter user, “Sunni Bahraini” claims five men were wrongfully arrested from Oman:

Bahrain continues to imprison five young people after their arrest in the Sultanate of Oman and the Ministry of Interior accused them of going to Syria.

On January 16, a 22-year-old man named Saleh Al Yafie was also arrested and put in jail, where he still remains.

Sunni Bahraini follows Alyafie's trial:

The public prosecutor keeps extending the detention period for Saleh Alyaafie, and has has now been in prison for nearly six months. How long will they keep extending?

Abdulla Albinali, 27, brother of ISIS preacher Turki Albinali, who threatened Bahrain, has also reportedly joined the ISIS and was arrested in Bahrain on April 20 from Bahrain International Airport. He is one of four brothers who have been on the radar. Three of the brothers were among the 72 whose citizenships were revoked. But he was not on that list.

His other brother Mohammed Albinali, has tweeted about his arrest:

Tomorrow is the trial of my patient brother Abdulla Albinali and whether they acquit him or sentence him to death, their sentence to us remains apostasy and a crime

According to Islamion.com Abdulla has been chased for some time by the authorities. His trial was on July 6 and was postponed.

“Sunni Bahraini” tweets again about Abdulla's trial:

Abdulla Albinali's trial was postponed for two more months. I wonder how long will the delay last?

This YouTube video of him before his arrest, shows him talking about why authorities are after him, and criticizing the government for not following Sharia law, and instead trying to accommodate democracy.

It has been about one year since the rise of ISIS, which has come to occupy large swaths of territory across Syria and Iraq. Several Bahrainis have already either joined them to fight for the Islamic Caliphate, which is what the ISIS calls the territory it has annexed, or provide them with some sort of support. The latest to join is Ismael Alhamdani, who was an employee of the Bahrain Defence Force (the army), according to Mohammed Albinali, Turki's brother who is also fighting among ISIS abroad.

Ismael Alhamdani
From an AlKhalifa soldier
To a soldier of the Caliph
From a soldier of Law
To the soldier of Sharia

Radio Sawa reporter Zaid Benjamin shares on his Twitter a photograph of Alhamdani:

ISIS supporters declare the repentance of the tyrant's soldiers Ismael Alhamdani, who just joined their group.

On Twitter, some supporters of ISIS congratulated Alhamdani for joining the militant group:

We congratulate our brother Ismael Alhamdani for his repentance, and joining the righteous, and leaving the masses of apostates.
We recommend to him patience and fortitude

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti news site Alshahed reported that the two Saudi men responsible for helping the suicide bomber in the attack on the mosque in Kuwait confessed they got their explosives for the belt from ISIS members in Bahrain. The two men confessed, according to the site, they hid the explosives under ice in a cooler they had with them, to mislead customs officers at Nuwaisib border, which is the entry point from Saudi Arabia to Kuwait. Bahrain too is linked to Saudi Arabia by road through the 25km King Fahad Causeway.

Bahrain Mirror published an article that contains several videos of Bahrainis who have joined ISIS. Among those who spoke about ISIS and supported them are Adel Almowada, a current member of the appointed upper house in the parliament, and extremist Sunni cleric and former member of elected house in the parliament Jassim Alsaeedi. Alsaeedi was temporarily banned from preaching at the mosque he usually preaches at in Isa Town. The ban came after he delivered a speech in which he called the Shias in Bahrain “polytheist”, which means they worship more than one God. The ban lasted for two weeks before the Minister of Justice allowed him to resume his preaching.

Urgent: After I was interrogated by the Sunni Endowment Directorate, the Minister of Justice has ordered to allow me go back to the podium. Thank God.

Alsaeedi has been known for his extreme discourse, full of blasphemy against the Shias in Bahrain. Yet, the decision by the Minister of Justice comes at a time when Bahrainis are calling for unity between Sunnis and Shiites.

Among measures taken by the Bahraini (MOI) to prevent an ISIS attack is install cameras in several Shia mosques around Bahrain in coordination with the Jaafari Endowment Directorate. However, Bahrain Mirror also published an article (in Arabic) saying that Bahraini authorities imposed these measures without involving those concerned in the decision. Many reject the installation of cameras inside the mosques because they don't trust the government's intentions, like in this Hamad Town mosque, where the local community refuses to have cameras installed:

Security personnel, accompanied by endowment directorate staff try to install monitoring cameras inside Al Zahraa Mosque in Hamad Town

This mistrust of the authorities is evident all over social media. Bahraini doctor Ebrahim Alaradi tweets to his 17K followers after police visited a mosque in A'ali where a joint prayer between Sunnis and Shiites was held:

We urge our people in Aali to inspect the mosque again after the departure of mercenaries from the Ministry of Interior for reassurance and safety. A regime that kills us will not protect us

Meanwhile, on Twitter, ISIS member who goes by the name Abu Hajar Alanzi tweeted direct threats to the government:

Rally up what you want, our youth have worn the belts and boarded the boats of death, ready to earn their rewards

They thought they will extinguish the fire inside us for our religion, they don't know they poured gasoline on fire for injustice awakens nations of their negligence

Bahrain's government should learn from others
For the happy is the one who learned from others,
The days will prove what I say

It seems that the government of Bahrain picks and chooses what to announce to the public. While the arrests of ISIS members and supporters go unnoticed, the government never fails to announce the arrest of protestors and opposition members whom they prosecute according to its terrorism law, and publishes their personal information, including their names and photographs even before they are put on trial.

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Written byFaten Bushehri

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