Manama: Bahrain’s police on Tuesday said that it foiled an attempt to storm a pre-trial detention centre and help detainees escape.
“An armed terror operation targeting the detention centre to help a number of detainees escape has been foiled,” the ministry said on its Twitter account.
The assault group, made up of eight people, planned to use cars to storm the building and to shoot guards with the weapons they had, a spokesperson for the police later said.
The firearms they planned to use during the attack were seized, he said on Bahrain Television.
“They had two Kalashnikovs and 143 bullets,” the spokesperson said.
The attackers, all men, were aged between 21 and 53, and belonged to the same cell, the Imam’s Army, whose members were arrested on January 24, the spokesperson said.
The cell had plotted to attack sensitive civilian and military sites and public figures in Bahrain.
Last month, a daring escape by six detainees being transported to court to face trial caused consternation among lawmakers who called for urgent action to ensure security during the bus ride and the full application of the law.
