The measures were taken after a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in neighbouring Kuwait last week, in which an ISIL member killed 27 people.
The interior ministry said that security volunteers trained by the civil defence would be deployed in different parts of the country to support the work of the police on Friday, when large numbers of Muslims flock to mosques to perform noon prayers.
ISIL commander Turki al-Binali, a Bahraini who has been stripped of his citizenship, announced on Twitter last Saturday that "the next attack after Kuwait" would be in Bahrain.
Reports said Binali travelled to Syria in 2014 to join the upper ranks of the ISIL group.
His statement came a day after the attack in Kuwait, which the government said was carried out by a Saudi citizen, and for which ISIL claimed responsibility.
Shia Muslims comprise the majority of Bahrain's population but the country is ruled by a Sunni monarchy. |
In May, ISIL targeted Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia on two consecutive Fridays. The group considers Shia Muslims to be heretics.
Call for national unity
In an apparent response to the threat, Bahraini officials met with Sunni and Shia religious figures to coordinate efforts to secure places of worship.
Abdullah bin Rashid al-Khalifa, the governor of the Southern Governorate, called on preachers and scholars to emphasise national unity and moderation in their sermons.
Shia Muslims comprise the majority of Bahrain's population but the country is ruled by a Sunni monarchy.
The ISIL threat has spurred an increasingly reconciliatory narrative among some in Bahrain, as the government expressed its determination to ensure the safety and security of the country's Shia population.
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