Bahrain bans women in mosques after suicide attack

Authorities have prohibited the entry of women in mosques after a suicide bomber disguised himself as a woman and blew himself up in a mosque in Saudi Arabia last month, killing three people

Bahrain has banned women from entering any mosque in the country as a "precautionary measure" following the attacks on mosques in Saudi Arabia last month. 

An Islamic State suicide bomber, disguised as a woman, blew himself up at a Shia mosque in Dammam in Saudi Arabia on 29 May, killing three worshippers. 

Bahrain officials last week ordered mosques across the country to stop women from entering, citing that it was "difficult to place checks on women", the Gulf Daily News reported.

Bahrain's Jaffari Waqf (Endowment) Directorate chairman Shaikh Mohsen Al Asfoor made the official announcement to all mosques, the report said. 

"We urge women not to pray in mosques because of the recent developments especially after the mosque attacks in Saudi Arabia," Al Asfoor said.

"Such security measures are taken for the safety of everyone because it is difficult to place checks on women who come to pray in mosques," he said. 

Islamic scholars have also reportedly backed the decision to keep women away from mosques. 

The Dammam mosque attack was the second such attack on a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia, claimed by the Islamic State.

IS had also claimed responsibility for a previous attack on the Imam Ali mosque in al-Qadeeh village in Saudi Arabia on 22 May, in which 21 people had been killed.