ABU DHABI: Bahrain charged 169 people on Tuesday with being part of a militant group they referred to as the “Bahraini Hezbollah.” 

Prosecutors said in a statement they already have 111 people in custody after a series of raids on the island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia. Charges against suspects in the case range from attempted murder to damaging property, as well as illegally possessing and hiding weapons.

It offered no names for the accused. It wasn’t immediately clear if they had legal counsel.

Prosecutors also accused Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard of providing arms and training for the militants. 

In recent years, the kingdom has revoked the citizenship of over 700 people since 2012, including 115 in a mass terrorism trial in May.

Amid the crackdown, local Shiite militant groups have carried out several attacks on security forces.

“The Public Prosecution had been informed by the Department of criminal investigation ... that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have ordered some of their members to work on unifying different Bahraini militant groups,” the statement said.

“(The groups) would get involved in one terrorist organisation which they called Bahrain’s Hezbollah,” it said, adding the group was planning to send Bahrainis to Iraq, Lebanon and Iran for military training. A trial is set for Oct. 3, Bahrain News Agency said.

The kingdom has seen occasional unrest since 2011.

Bahrain is a strategic island where the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based.