KUWAIT CITY, 31 January 2005 — A policeman, a wanted terrorist and a Bahraini civilian were killed in a gunbattle here yesterday in the third deadly clash this month, as the government vowed to crush terror.
“The government reaffirms its determination to crush this deviant group and deter all those who attempt to disrupt the security and stability of our beloved homeland,” a Cabinet statement said after the firefight.
An Interior Ministry statement said one terrorist and four security men were also wounded in the clashes in the Salmiya district, 20 km east of the capital, after police cordoned off an area in search of wanted terrorists.
The wounded terrorist and a third suspect were arrested by security forces who stormed a building where “terrorists” were hiding and a heavy exchange of gunfire took place, the statement said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Adel Al-Hashash told state television that the three suspects involved the shootout were among those most wanted by security forces.
The shootout took place close to the American University of Kuwait and the French school in the district, which is home to a large number of Westerners.
An AFP correspondent heard grenades and heavy gunfire throughout the hour-long exchange. Two helicopters hovered above the area, with access made off-limits by a massive police presence and armored vehicles.
A security source identified the dead terrorist as Nasser Khlaif Al-Enezi, one of those most wanted and a brother of the terror group’s alleged leader Aamer Khlaif Al-Enezi.
The suspects had rented a flat on the sixth floor of the 10-story furnished apartment block, the source said.
The incident came two weeks after a shootout between terrorists and Kuwaiti security forces left one gunman dead in Umm Al-Haiman.
That gunbattle, near the largest US military base in Kuwait, came five days after another clash closer to Kuwait City left two security officers and a Kuwaiti suspect dead.
The American, British and French embassies in Kuwait have advised their nationals to avoid certain areas in the country and warned of the danger of more unrest.
Kuwaiti authorities have seized arms and explosives in subsequent raids around the country and, according to Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, arrested about 15 suspected terrorists.
However, an unspecified number, including the group’s leader, are still at large while up to 13 have been referred to the public prosecution.
Sheikh Nawaf acknowledged that the terrorists belonged to an “organized group”, but the country’s national guard chief, Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, has said some of the group’s members were linked to Al-Qaeda.
Sheikh Nawaf said on Saturday that Kuwait was in constant touch with Saudi Arabia over the confrontations between their security forces and terrorists.
