Kuwaiti Youth With Carload of Gasoline Bombs Turns Himself In
Kuwaiti authorities arrested a teenager Thursday who had explosives in his car near a high-rise where some U.S. military personnel live about 15 miles south of Kuwait City, Kuwaiti officials said.
The 17-year-old youth was arrested near the Alia and Ghalia towers in Fintas, an Interior Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The youth had 10 bottles filled with gasoline, each with a cloth fuse, and allegedly told police that he had received orders over the Internet from someone in Pakistan to place the explosives in the towers.
However, the youth apparently reported the suspicious vehicle himself, waited in the area and, when approached by police, admitted driving the car containing the explosives, the official said.
The car belonged to the youth’s father, according to the Kuwait News Agency.
Late Thursday, the Interior Ministry released a formal statement to Kuwaiti media in which it said reports that the youth was “carrying explosive material to use against that residential complex are totally baseless.”
It said the youth who was arrested had told a security guard that he had 10 bottles of fuel in his car parked near the complex.
Residents of the area went about their business, apparently unaware of any trouble.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
