Saudi Arabia mosque attack: 2 reported killed By Jason Hanna, Yousuf Basil and Hamzeh Noami, CNN UPDATED: JAN 29, 2016 12:57 GMT
A suicide bomber blew himself up and another
attacker opened fire outside a Shiite mosque in the
predominantly Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia on
Friday, killing two people and injuring at least seven
others, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.
Security forces confronted both attackers as they
headed toward the Imam Ridha mosque in the town
of Mahasen, in eastern Saudi Arabia's al-Ahsa region
in Eastern Province, where worshippers were holding
Friday prayers, the press agency reported.
The bomber blew himself up as security personnel
engaged him, and the other attacker exchanged fire
with security forces, according to the Saudi Press
Agency.
The gunman was arrested and was wearing a vest
with explosives, the agency reported.
Pictures of the scene posted to social media showed
several bodies on the ground.
This would be at least the fourth deadly attack on a
Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia -- a kingdom where
85% to 90% of the citizens are Sunni -- since May. The
previous three were claimed by ISIS, the Sunni
Islamist terror group, or one of its affiliates.
Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-
Turkey told CNN Arabic there was a "terrorism
attempt" at the mosque in Mahasen.
"The situation has been handled," Al-Turkey said.
The identities of those who were killed or injured
weren't immediately released. No immediate claim of
responsibility for the attack was made.
Friday's assault comes after at least three Shiite
mosques were attacked in the kingdom in 2015.
On May 22, a suicide bomber detonated himself,
killing at least 21 people, at the Imam Ali mosque in
the Persian Gulf-area village of Qudayh, in one of
Saudi Arabia's few Shiite population centers in the
majority Sunni kingdom.
A week later, a man disguised as a woman blew
himself up -- killing at least three people -- outside a
mosque in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of
Damman, the capital of Saudi Arabia's oil-rich
Eastern Province.
ISIS claimed both May attacks.
In mid-October, an ISIS affiliate claimed an attack of
its own -- a gunman opening fire on a Shiite mosque
in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Saihat. That attack
killed at least five people, the Saudi Press Agency
reported.
attacker opened fire outside a Shiite mosque in the
predominantly Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia on
Friday, killing two people and injuring at least seven
others, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported.
Security forces confronted both attackers as they
headed toward the Imam Ridha mosque in the town
of Mahasen, in eastern Saudi Arabia's al-Ahsa region
in Eastern Province, where worshippers were holding
Friday prayers, the press agency reported.
The bomber blew himself up as security personnel
engaged him, and the other attacker exchanged fire
with security forces, according to the Saudi Press
Agency.
The gunman was arrested and was wearing a vest
with explosives, the agency reported.
Pictures of the scene posted to social media showed
several bodies on the ground.
This would be at least the fourth deadly attack on a
Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia -- a kingdom where
85% to 90% of the citizens are Sunni -- since May. The
previous three were claimed by ISIS, the Sunni
Islamist terror group, or one of its affiliates.
Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-
Turkey told CNN Arabic there was a "terrorism
attempt" at the mosque in Mahasen.
"The situation has been handled," Al-Turkey said.
The identities of those who were killed or injured
weren't immediately released. No immediate claim of
responsibility for the attack was made.
Friday's assault comes after at least three Shiite
mosques were attacked in the kingdom in 2015.
On May 22, a suicide bomber detonated himself,
killing at least 21 people, at the Imam Ali mosque in
the Persian Gulf-area village of Qudayh, in one of
Saudi Arabia's few Shiite population centers in the
majority Sunni kingdom.
A week later, a man disguised as a woman blew
himself up -- killing at least three people -- outside a
mosque in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood of
Damman, the capital of Saudi Arabia's oil-rich
Eastern Province.
ISIS claimed both May attacks.
In mid-October, an ISIS affiliate claimed an attack of
its own -- a gunman opening fire on a Shiite mosque
in the eastern Saudi Arabian city of Saihat. That attack
killed at least five people, the Saudi Press Agency
reported.
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