Manama: 
Bahrain’s security chief said that a major terror plot has been foiled with the discovery of bomb-making workshops.

“We have seized five tonnes of explosive materials and 110 litres of chemicals after raiding buildings used as bomb factories,” Major General Tariq Al Hassan, Public Security chief, said.

The materials discovered earlier this month in Salmabad and Hamad Town, south of the capital Manama, also included four ready-to-use bombs containing homemade explosives packed with iron pellets, pipes to make bombs, electronic and mechanical tools to make the devices and gas cylinders.

The dangerous substances could have caused massive destruction, deaths and damage, he said.

“We see a new level of terrorist activity and a dangerous escalation of terror schemes and this is totally unacceptable. Such criminal acts frighten citizens and residents, destroy public and private property and injure policemen maintaining public order,” he said.

“The evidence seized by the police indicates that those behind the schemes are terrorists who have received advanced training and given logistical support,” Al Hassan told the media.

Three of the suspects reportedly involved in the terror activity have been identified, he said.