KUWAIT: Suspected Islamic State militants arrested in Kuwait and the Philippines were planning to carry out bombings against US military forces in Kuwait, Al-Rai newspaper reported yesterday. The suspects were also plotting a suicide attack on a husseiniya (Shiite meeting hall) in Sulaibikhat, said Al-Rai, which has close ties to security services.

Philippine security forces arrested a Kuwaiti and a Syrian for suspected links to Islamic State on March 25, three months after they arrived in Manila. Al-Rai said Kuwaiti security forces also arrested a Syrian chemistry teacher suspected of involvement with the plots. He was coordinating between those involved in the plot, especially with his repeated visits to northern Syria. A pressure cooker bomb was found at a farm, while another was found in Saad Al-Abdullah, the daily said, adding the devices were similar to those used at the Boston Marathon bombing four years ago.

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Kuwait referred queries to Kuwaiti authorities. Kuwaiti security officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kuwait, home to several US military bases, suffered its deadliest militant attack in decades when a Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up inside a packed Shiite mosque in June 2015, killing 27 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility. - Agencies