Mishal Al-Otaibi
Saudi Gazette
RIYADH — The Saudi security forces shot dead a terrorist in the eastern city of Saihat after shots were fired at a husseiniya (a congregation hall) in Al-Kawthar district on Friday evening.
Five people were killed as the gunman sprayed bullets at the meeting hall. Among the five reported dead was a woman. They are: Ali Hussein Al-Saleem, Abdullah Al Jassim, Ayman Al Ajmi, Abdulsatter Busaleh and Ms. Buthaina Al-Abad.
Shortly after the attack, in which five people were also wounded, Saudi security forces said they killed the attacker and arrested two suspects linked with the incident.
Meanwhile, Al Ekhbariya TV had quoted sources as saying that the “person who opened fire on a husseiniya was killed, and the attacker was in his twenties.”
The terrorists had earlier overcome an Indian driver and stolen his limousine in Al-Anoud district in Dammam. They then drove to a husseiniya in Saihat and started firing randomly.
The deaths and the injured was as a result of the random firing, but in the ensuing melee a number of worshipers lent a hand to close the husseiniya before more people were killed.
The security forces then took over and chased the perpetrators near Al-Hamza Mosque. An exchange of gunfire took place, resulting in the death of a terrorist.
Security personnel cordoned off the area and the mopping up operations began. They were deployed at the gateways and exits of Saihat to safeguard the area, and their vigilance netted two suspects. The security personnel are still searching for another suspect.
The checkpoints around the vicinity of the site have begun tight screening of the traffic and are thoroughly checking the license and identity cards of the people passing through.
The injured were taken to a nearby hospital. Most of the people sustained minor injuries, to the shoulder or their feet.
The security forces have launched an investigation to determine whether the terrorists carried out the attack on their own or whether others were involved in the planning and effecting of the attack. The Interior Ministry will be issuing a statement later.
The Daesh (so-called IS) group is believed to be behind the attack. It has launched a series of attacks inside the Kingdom and other Gulf states in recent months, aiming to stir sectarian confrontation in the Arabian Peninsula.
A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people in an attack on a mosque used by members of a local security force in southwest Saudi Arabia in August, after a separate suicide bomb attack in May, in which the bomber blew himself up during Friday prayers at a mosque in the village of Al-Qadeeh had left 21 dead and 81 others wounded.
Since the attacks, volunteer security guards have sprung up around mosque complexes in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom.
Saudi authorities said in July that they had rounded up 431 Daesh suspects and had foiled numerous plots to attack places of worship and security forces. The militant group has also targeted Shiite mosques and places in other regional countries such as Kuwait and Iraq.
