Kuwait mosque bomb toll rises to 25 dead: ministry

The toll from an Islamic State group bombing that targeted a Shiite mosque in the Kuwaiti capital today has risen to 25 dead, the interior ministry said.

In a statement on the official KUNA news agency, the ministry said that 202 people were wounded in the unprecedented attack.

The IS-affiliated group in Saudi Arabia, calling itself Najd Province, said militant Abu Suleiman al-Muwahhid carried out the attack on the mosque, which it claimed was spreading Shiite teachings among Sunni Muslims.

The blast hit Al-Imam al-Sadeq mosque in Kuwait City, the interior ministry said in a brief statement without providing details.

Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, immediately visited the site, and footage on state-run Kuwait Television showed him visibly moved by the scenes of carnage.

The television showed footage of massive destruction caused by the blast, and people posted online horrific pictures of the dead and wounded.

The Kuwaiti cabinet went into an emergency meeting to discuss the incident, as the interior ministry raised the level of alert and mobilised all security forces.

A number of hospitals in the oil-rich emirate declared states of emergency to deal with the wounded, while the central blood bank appealed for blood donations.

Kuwaiti Shiites make up around one-third of the country's native population of 1.3 million people.
The interior ministry said it launched a full investigation into the incident.