Kuwaiti police, islamic militants clash (Agencies) Updated: 2005-01-31 16:19
Kuwaiti police stormed a house of suspected terrorists on Monday, setting off
a shootout that killed several people, police said. It was the second straight
day of clashes with Islamic militants.
Four police officers were wounded in Monday's clash in al-Qurain, a
residential district of Kuwait City, said a police officer, who spoke on
condition of anonymity. He did not give an exact number of deaths, but said that
several people were killed.
![Kuwait State Security policemen arrive at the scene of a gun battle in Kuwait City on Sunday, Jan 30, 2005. [AP]](xin_5401023116352382691314.jpg) Kuwait State Security policemen arrive at the
scene of a gun battle in Kuwait City on Sunday, Jan 30, 2005.
[AP] | State-run Kuwait Television reported that militants killed a civilian in the
shootout, but this was could not be immediately confirmed. The clash was
continuing mid-morning Monday with security forces pursuing suspected terrorists
around the al-Qurain neighborhood.
Monday's raid came a day after security forces battled militants in another
residential district of the capital in a clash that killed three people — a
terrorists suspect, a police officer, and a Bahraini person who was not a
suspect.
Kuwait, a major ally of the United States, has been battling Islamic
fundamentalists who oppose the presence of American forces in their country.
Monday's shootout was the fourth this month between security forces and
suspected terrorists. Clashes on Jan. 10 and 15 resulted in the deaths of two
suspects and two police offers.
Authorities have arrested more than 25 Kuwaiti and Saudi suspects since the
Jan. 15 clashes. Seven detainees, including a woman, have been referred to
prosecutors for planning terrorist attacks or failing to report such plans to
the police.
Last week, the U.S. and British embassies warned their citizens to be
vigilant as further militant attacks were possible.
Kuwait has had close ties with Washington since 1991 when a U.S.-led
coalition liberated it from a seven-month Iraqi occupation. The country was the
launch pad for the March 2003 invasion of Iraq that toppled the dictatorship of
Saddam Hussein. It remains a logistics base for U.S. troops serving in Iraq.
Since 2002, fundamentalists have carried out several attacks against
Americans in Kuwait, killing one U.S. Marine and a civilian contracted to the
U.S. military.
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top World
News |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|