KUWAIT CITY, 1 February 2005 — Kuwaiti security forces fought their biggest battle yet with terrorists yesterday, killing four including a Saudi and arresting their leader and five others, the Interior Ministry and state TV said.
One Kuwaiti civilian was also killed in the gunbattle that raged for nine hours in Al-Qurain district, also known as Mubarak Al-Kabir, about 25 km south of the capital, the ministry said in a statement.
Three policemen and three of the arrested suspects were wounded in the gunfight that started at dawn after security forces backed by armored vehicles stormed a house where the suspects had taken refuge.
“Security forces... have liquidated a group of terrorists who had taken refuge in a number of locations in Mubarak Al-Kabir district where they started shooting at security men who hunted them,” the statement said.
Security sources and witnesses said policemen fought in the streets with the militants who ignored repeated calls through loudspeakers to surrender.
State television said one of those killed was a Saudi national while security sources said two others were Bidoon, or stateless Arabs.
It was the second time in a fortnight that a Saudi citizen had been killed in a clash with Kuwaiti security forces. Another was killed in a gunbattle with police in Umm Al-Haiman on Jan. 15.
Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said Saturday his country was in constant contact with Saudi authorities, who have themselves been battling suspected Al-Qaeda militants since they launched a string of shootings and bombings in May 2003.
The house stormed by security forces is attached to a mosque and belongs to the mosque’s preacher who was away on leave. The house was badly damaged by heavy police gunfire before it was stormed.
One of those arrested was Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi, a former mosque preacher and the alleged leader of militants. His brother Nasser was killed in a gunfight with police on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.
That clash near Kuwait City left a police officer, a suspect and a Bahraini civilian dead, and five others wounded.
