Manama: Kuwaiti lawmakers have called for the capital punishment of the defendants in Al Sadiq Mosque bombing case as the much-anticipated trial is set to begin on Tuesday.

The terror blast on June 26 in which 26 worshippers were killed and 227 were injured, shook the nation to the core, prompting calls for a display of national unity and social cohesion that included joined prayers between Sunnis and Shiites to prevent sliding towards sectarianism.

The attack was claimed by terror group Daesh, just like the two previous attacks on May 22 and May 29 on Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.

“I call for the most severe punishment against anyone who attempts to undermine the security of the nation and frighten innocent people,” MP Sultan Al Lughaisim said. “The perpetrators of the attack on Al Sadiq Mosque must be executed for killing innocent people who were praying inside a mosque during the holy month of Ramadan,” he said, quoted by Kuwaiti daily Al Rai on Tuesday.

MP Mansoor Al Dhufairi said he was confident justice would be served.

“We do trust the Kuwaiti justice and we trust the court verdict will be the death sentence for all those who had a role in the terror blast,” he said. “The capital punishment is the just ruling against those who kill innocent people and try to sow divisions among the members of the same society. We tell such criminals that they cannot succeed in carrying out your dark schemes and in dividing the nation. Kuwaitis are true patriots and they are well aware of your plots. They will, through their unity, defeat anyone who attempts to undermine the nation’s stability and security,” he said.

MP Abdullah Al Maayoof said he was looking forward to the death sentence against anyone who had a hand in the blast or supported it morally, intellectually or financially.

“The Deash terror group does not recognize any religion or sect or gender,” he said. “Whoever supports them in any way, including promoting their views, knows very well that they are killers and criminals who want to blow up people in Kuwait. Supporting the group means condoning its acts of terror and its killing of innocent people. Therefore, those who assist Daesh should be given the death sentence,” he said.

Kuwait’s public prosecution last month referred 29 people, including seven women, to the criminal court on charges of attacking Imam Al Sadiq Mosque in the capital Kuwait City.

The prosecution said it had finished the investigations into the attack, and that seven Kuwaitis, five Saudis, three Pakistanis, 13 illegal residents and a fugitive whose nationality has not been known yet were accused of targeting the mosque. The women are relatives of some of the suspects.

Two of the defendants are facing charges of the premeditated murder of 26 people, the attempted murder of the injured and possession of explosives inside the mosque, the statement said. Two other defendants are charged with training on using explosives for illegal purposes, it added.

Seven defendants are accused of incitement to commit the crime, while others are charged with joining a banned group that adopts extremist ideologies which runs counter to the state institutions.

The prosecution said that 24 suspects were detained in Kuwait while the other five, including two brothers held in Saudi Arabia, were out of the country. The Saudi brothers reportedly carried the explosives across the border into Kuwait.

The bomber, Fahad Sulaiman Abdul Mohsen Al Gabbaa, arrived on a flight to Kuwait airport at dawn on June 26 and blew himself up hours later inside the mosque during the prayers.