An Egyptian expat was arrested on Saturday in Kuwait on suspicion of being an Islamic State (IS) affiliate. The Kuwaiti police forces arrested him after he deliberately crashed his vehicle into another that was carrying five US nationals, the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry announced Saturday evening.
The statement said that the Egyptian, Ibrahim Soliman, was arrested following a traffic collision in which he deliberately drove a rubbish-collection truck into the US nationals’ vehicle. According to preliminary investigations, the accident was premeditated.
“A preliminary inspection of the Egyptian’s vehicle found evidence of his affiliation to IS. According written notes found in the vehicle, it is evident that he has adopted IS leanings. What is suspected to be an explosive belt was also found,” the statement read.
The five US nationals sustained no injuries though Soliman was injured and then transferred to hospital accompanied by a security guard, the Kuwaiti interior ministry said.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not available for comment nor did it publish any statement about the incident; however, the Egyptian Embassy in Kuwait confirmed the validity of the reported events to Daily News Egypt on Sunday and promised a complete follow-up with more details on the arrested expat on Monday.
Soliman is being investigated by security forces in Kuwait.
“Investigations are currently being conducted to discover more details about the incident, in addition to other collaborators,” the statement read.
In September, the Saudi interior ministry announced that 17 people suspected of being affiliated with IS had been arrested and that one of them was an Egyptian citizen.
The Egyptian, Omar El-Zoghbai, was arrested along with 14 Saudi citizens, one Yemeni, and one Palestinian. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not available then to comment as to whether the investigations into El-Zoghbai have been followed up.
Earlier in August, an Egyptian expat in Saudi Arabia was reportedly sentenced to six years in prison over accusations of espionage with Iran, according to Saudi newspaper Okaz.
