Hezbollah denies any members in Kuwait after arrest of 16 alleged affiliates

Hezbollah on Tuesday denied it had any members in Kuwait a day after the Gulf country announced the arrest of 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese nationals allegedly affiliated with the group over a "sabotage plot".

"Hezbollah categorically denies the allegations and accusations issued by the Kuwaiti interior ministry," the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group said in a statement, calling the allegations "baseless" and adding: "There are no Hezbollah cells, members or networks in Kuwait."

Kuwaiti security forces had arrested 16 people suspected to have links with Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group allied with Iran, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported.

The interior ministry said in a statement late Monday that the 14 Kuwaiti and two Lebanese suspects sought to “create chaos, and disrupt public order” during the war, the agency reported.

The ministry did not identify the people arrested. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.

It said authorities found firearms, ammunition, weapons for training and assassinations and encrypted communication devices and drones.

The ministry said the suspects aimed to recruit others to join Hezbollah.

Kuwait has for years experienced attacks that authorities linked to Iran.