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The Islamic State is coming for the Gulf

The Islamic State seems to believe its recent suicide attacks against Shiite targets in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia will increase its appeal to Sunnis in the Gulf.
Crowds surround the Imam Sadiq Mosque after a bomb explosion following Friday prayers, in the Al Sawaber area of Kuwait City June 26, 2015. Four people were killed in the suicide attack on Friday on the Shi'ite Muslim mosque in Kuwait City, the governor of Kuwait City Thabet al-Muhanna said.  REUTERS/Jassim Mohammed - RTX1HWP4

An Islamic State suicide bomber struck the Shiite Imam Sadiq mosque in the center of Kuwait City June 26. On May 29, in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, another suicide bomber struck the entrance of a Shiite mosque just kilometers away from the site of a May 22 suicide bombing, also against a Shiite mosque, in the town of Qudaih, in the Shiite-majority Qatif province. That attack killed 21 and wounded more than 100.

IS may have chosen to target Kuwait as part of prior planning, but it is just as likely that the weak security coordination between Gulf countries has made Kuwait an alternative to the Shiite targets in Saudi Arabia, where security has been tightened.

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