DUBAI: Bahrain said on Wednesday it had dismantled an Iran-linked “terror” cell that was planning attacks in the kingdom, amid a growing diplomatic crisis between Gulf Arab states and Tehran.

The cell was allegedly linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon’s Tehran-backed Hezbollah militia and planning to carry out a “series of dangerous bombings” on the tiny kingdom, an interior ministry statement said.

Members of the “secret terrorist organisation” have been identified and many arrested, said the statement on the official BNA news agency, adding that others remain at large. Among those arrested were 33-year-old twins Ali and Mohammed Fakhrawi identified as leaders of the group.

The cell is allegedly linked to the little-known Al-Ashtar Brigades which has reportedly claimed responsibility for bombings in the Shiite-majority kingdom, including one outside a Sunni mosque in 2013.

It is also linked to suspects involved a July 28 bombing that killed two policemen and wounded six others.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2016