Kuwait authorities identify Shia mosque bomber as Saudi citizen

Interior ministry says Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Gabbaa flew into Gulf nation just hours before carrying out attack in which 27 people were killed

Kuwaiti authorities say the bomber flew into the Gulf state hours before carrying out the attack (Getty)

Kuwaiti authorities have identified the suicide bomber who killed 27 people at a Shia mosque, as a Saudi citizen.

A statement from the interior ministry, carried by the Kuwait News Agency, named the man as Fahad Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Gabbaa, saying he flew into the Gulf nation just hours before carrying out the attack.

At least seven suspects have been detained in connection with that attack, according to local media.

The authorities said that among those arrested was a 25-year-old from Kuwait's bedoon community, who they say drove the car that brought the bomber to the mosque.

The man was identified as Abdulrahman Sabah Eidan Saud.

The bedoon community is made up of descendants of desert nomads and others considered stateless by the government. They have long claimed the government deprives them of citizenship and rights.

A Kuwaiti man who housed the driver was also taken into custody.

The interior ministry described him as a follower of "fundamentalist and deviant ideology", a term the Gulf states often employ to refer to al-Qaeda.

A local Isis affiliate, the self-styled Najd Province, claimed responsibility for the bombing, which took place at one of Kuwait's oldest Shia mosques during midday prayers,

Officials say 227 people were wounded in the attack.

The Kuwait bombing occurred amid a series of bloody global attacks, including an attack in Tunisia in which 38 people were killed.

(Additional reporting by agencies)