Five men found guilty of detonating bombs in Manama have each been sentenced to 30 years behind bars.

The Bahrainis were convicted of receiving militia training and making and detonating homemade bombs by the High Criminal Court yesterday, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

However, two of them are still at large and were sentenced in absentia.

The five were responsible for detonating an explosive near Exhibition Avenue on April 12 last year and blowing up a car near the Marina Club on February 17 this year.

However, nobody was injured in either blast.

The first bomb was detonated on waste ground used as a car park near KFC, in Hoora, damaging three cars.

In the second attack, a bomb was placed inside a vehicle parked near the Marina Club.

The three defendants in custody pleaded not guilty, although two earlier admitted possessing and detonating explosives when questioned by police.

One suspect, aged 34, told prosecutors that they filled steel pipes with gunpowder and detonated them using a remote device.

Police are later said to have confiscated 12 masks, gloves and steel pipes from the homes of the defendants. - TradeArabia News Service