Another IS attack in Eastern Province

A previously unknown branch of Islamic State (IS, or Daesh) claimed responsibility on 16 October for the murder of five and wounding of nine Shia worshippers at a mosque in the Saihat neighbourhood between Al-Qatif and Damman in Eastern Province’s main urban area. In an online statement, the so-called Bahrain Province group claimed it had sent gunman Shuja Al-Dosari to kill what it derogatorily called “rafida” (IS-speak for those who reject the Sunni way) as they completed their “polytheist rituals”, in reality Friday prayers. Bahrain Province is the third self-proclaimed branch of IS to emerge this year in the Arabian Peninsula.