Maldives arrests 14 for alleged Islamic State-tied bomb plot

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Police in Maldives have arrested 14 people allegedly working with foreign Islamic extremists to carry out a bombing in the archipelago. The nation’s counterterrorism head said the suspects had been working with the Islamic State group and apparently planning an attack with the intent of killing many people. He did not elaborate. Maldives has seen a rise in religious extremism in recent years. The Sunni Muslim nation of 500,000 people had the highest number of people per capita fighting in foreign wars. Former president and current Parliament speaker Mohamed Nasheed was critically injured in a bombing last year. Nasheed is known to be a liberal, pro-West politician.