Kuwait considers charging more than 40 people over Shia mosque attack

Kuwait is considering charging more than 40 people in connection with a deadly suicide bombing in a Shia mosque claimed by the Islamic State group, a security official said on Sunday.

"More than 40 suspects, including a number of women, have been referred to the public prosecution," the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"Now, it is up to the prosecution whether to press charges against all of them or not," the official said.

The Saudi bomber killed 26 people and wounded 227 in the 26 June attack in the capital Kuwait City.

Among the defendants are the alleged driver of the bomber and the alleged owner of the house where the driver stayed.

Kuwait has a confessionally divided population of around one third Shia to two thirds Sunni.

Last month's attack was the first in the emirate to be claimed by IS, which controls swathes of neighbouring Iraq and Syria.