Country Report on Terrorism 2024 - Chapter 1 - Kuwait

Country Overview:  Kuwait hosts the U.S. military’s fourth-largest overseas presence, including the alternate headquarters for OIR.  Kuwait State Security (KSS) is responsible for all counterterrorism functions and works closely with the United States to mitigate terrorism threats to Kuwait and U.S. interests within Kuwait.  Kuwait continued to play a vital role as a hub for the repatriation of FTFs and their families from Syria.

In October, Kuwait’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced a new regulation prohibiting cash transactions for car sales and gold to deter money laundering by terrorist organizations.  The FATF adopted Kuwait’s Mutual Evaluation Report, which noted that Kuwait is exposed to terrorist financing risks from terrorist acts and terrorist groups operating outside of the country and has an insufficient understanding of its terrorist financing risk.  FATF also stated that Kuwait has an adequate legal and supervisory framework to address illicit finance but has serious shortcomings in delivering effective outcomes, including its understanding, investigation, and prosecution of money laundering and terrorist financing.

2024 Terrorism Trends:  Kuwait has not experienced a terrorist attack since 2015.  KSS arrested a total of 10 suspected ISIS-related terrorists.  In January, prosecutors charged three people with joining ISIS and planning an attack on Shiite places of worship.  In May, KSS arrested a person for manufacturing explosives with the aim of planning terrorist attacks against U.S. forces.