ABU DHABI — The US State Department on Monday designated as a terrorist an Iran-based leader of a Shiite militia that seeks to overthrow the Bahraini government.

Qassim Ali Ahmed, also known as Qassim Al-Muamen, was named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the State Department.

He is the leader of the Al-Ashtar Brigades, which has already been designated by the US as a terrorist organization and has claimed responsibility for a number of bombings and attacks in Bahrain, including two that killed police.

Bahrain has also identified him as a key member of an Al-Ashtar Brigades plot to "assassinate prominent figures in Bahrain and target three oil pipelines," according to local media.

Al-Muamen has recruited "terrorists in Bahrain" as well as "facilitated training on weapons and explosives for AAB members, and supplied AAB members with funding, weapons, and explosives to carry out attacks," the State Department statement said.

The militant group has carried out attacks in response to what it calls a Bahraini government crackdown on a 2011 Shiite-led uprising. — Al Arabiya English