RIYADH: At least seven people, including three suicide bombers, died in Saudi Arabia on Monday following attacks elsewhere in the region before the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the three attacks one of which, at the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, left four members of the security forces dead and others wounded. Since late 2014 Saudi Arabia has been hit by bombings and shootings claimed by the Islamic State group but multiple attacks on the same day are unusual. The Prophet’s Mosque, in the west of the kingdom, is one of Islam’s holiest sites – where Mohammed is buried and which attracts millions of visitors each year.
“Security forces suspected a man who was heading towards Al-Masjid al-Nabawi (the Prophet’s Mosque) as he passed through a visitors parking lot,” the interior ministry said in a statement. “As they tried to stop him, he blew himself up with an explosive belt causing his death, and the death of four security personnel,” said the statement, adding that five others were injured. The two other blasts occurred in the Red Sea city of Jeddah near the US consulate and in Shiite-dominated Qatif on the other side of the country. (Reuters)