Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameedh has revealed that Islamic State (IS) had previously planned to detonate an aerial bomb above Male' City.

Speaking at the 'Viyavathi Raaje' Councillor Conference CP Hameedh noted that the attempt to bomb the Maldives was lead by a Maldivian in Syria during the year 2017. He stressed that the operation to neutralize the threat was the biggest counter terrorism intelligence and investigation carried out in 2017.

According to the CP, the threat was neutralized by a special operation carried out in a joint effort between Maldives Police Service, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC). He added that five of the world's major countries were part of the operation.

Locals in Male' acted on orders of an IS official in Syria with regards to the development of an IED and the attack as a whole.

CP Hameedh highlighted that the Maldives is the country currently engaged in counter terrorism the most in South East Asia and assured that it will remain so in the future as well.