Mahmoud Ahmad
Once again we woke up to the sad news of a terror attack at a mosque in Al-Ahsa, which killed four people on Friday. This cowardly attack on Imam Rida Mosque in Mahasen neighborhood in Al-Ahsa region of the Eastern Province left many people hurt. This seemingly targeted attacks on mosques on Fridays, or any other days, should stop and I hope this blatancy in taking innocent lives stops, and such attacks are things of the past.
Though this was not the first attack, I hope it will be the last. There was a suicide bombing of a Saudi mosque in which 21 people died and dozens more were injured in the town of Al-Qudaih in Qatif just months ago. A terrorist blew himself up at the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Qatif town during Friday prayers. The man was wearing an explosive belt and sneaked into the already-crowded mosque and blew himself up. The Daesh group (so-called Islamic State) at that time claimed responsibility for the bombing. Before that, a similar attack took place in the village of Al-Dalouh in Al-Ahsa late last year. Seven people died and 13 others were injured when four gunmen opened fire inside a mosque. The Daesh group once more claimed responsibility for this cowardly attack. They also targeted a mosque used by Interior Ministry special forces in the southwestern city of Abha, killing at least 13 people. This attack too was carried out by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest.
These terrorists hate mosques. It is evident from the examples above. Also they have been targeting the house of worship when it is most full — the jumma prayers — on Fridays. Like I had written earlier, these attacks are being carried out with an ulterior motive. The attacks, and the repeated targeting of houses of worship, are clear indication that those who wish to start a sectarian war in the Kingdom are getting increasingly desperate hoping that people would lose confidence in the government and instigate segments of society to attack each other.
Our security, unity and the future of our people are being targeted by the enemies of the Kingdom. If we look around us we will see that we are surrounded by danger from the north and south. We have a country in the east, Iran, with an ambition to expand, and to do that, they will support every terrorist organization that would do anything that would destabilize the region. They will take advantage of such attacks to undermine the government's ability to protect its people.
Whoever is behind this latest cowardly attack, and I would assume here that it is the Daesh group, and whoever is supporting them and backing their operations, wants to see sectarian strife in the Kingdom. They want to extend the example of Iraq civil war — where Iraqis kill Iraqis simply because they are different. This unending bloodletting in Iraq was sparked by outside elements that wanted Iraq perpetually destabilized and weak. This state of affairs is a far cry from the times when all sects in Iraq co-existed peacefully, way before the Iranian revolution.
The tactics by the enemies of the Kingdom, who are targeting us with their terrorist activities, are exposed and no one in Saudi Arabia is buying it. The level of awareness in Saudi Arabia is high as people know that such attacks aim at hitting the unity of people of our country. It is a way of the cowards to ignite bad blood between people by pitting one against another. But this blatant attempt to snap the unity and the strong Kingdom’s social fabric is seen by the people for what it is, and it works the opposite way by strengthening the people’s resolve in their fight against this scourge.
Our enemies know that the fastest way to break a country is by dividing its people from inside. They are stupid enough to think that we believe that this cowardly act of terror was done by Saudi nationals, who love the country. They were stupid enough to think that people will take their weapons, defy authority and retaliate. We will not.
But we should be constantly on alert for such insidious acts. We should arm our society against hatemongers both from inside and outside the country. We should protect our people by repeatedly citing examples of the enemies of the Kingdom’s frequent attempts at instigating hatred. We should find out who is benefiting from these attacks and we will know who is behind it and who is supporting it.
We as Saudis now should unite against hatemongers. The example of the sectarian fight in Iraq should be an eye-opener of what our enemies want us to become. In a civil war there are no winners, there are only losers among all participants. By uniting with our government we are sending a clear message to our enemies that they will never defeat us.
Our government needs to deal with terrorists with an iron fist. Let us not be lenient with anyone who intends spreading his devilish ideologies in our society. Community cohesion should always remain strong and of paramount importance. We need to come up with a counter strategy against the Daesh group’s use of social media and increase awareness among the youth who are, and have always been, the target of terrorists.
The writer can be reached at mahmad@saudigazette.com.sa
Twitter: @anajeddawi_eng
