Riyadh: Saudi security forces killed three suspected militants who shot at their patrol vehicles last week in the kingdom’s eastern Qatif province, the interior ministry said on Friday.
The men — two Saudis and a Bahraini — were killed in an exchange of gunfire with police in the city of Saihat in the district of Qatif on July 14, the ministry said.
Police seized three machine guns, a pistol, ammunition and more than 10kg of explosives, the official SPA news agency reported a ministry spokesman as saying. He said the men were wanted for their involvement in killing at least eight soldiers, attacks against the police, as well as an attack on a vehicle used to transport cash, abductions and weapons trafficking.
Last week’s attack occurred when security personnel approached the three wanted men in their vehicle in the town, the SPA statement said. “When they were surrounded and asked to surrender, they started shooting in a random way,” it said.
Al Jazirah newspaper on July 15 reported the death of one of the wanted men, Jaafar Al Mobireek, killed in Qatif, which has seen a string of attacks on security forces in recent weeks. Authorities have blamed the violence on terrorists and drug traffickers. Daesh has also claimed attacks on Saudi security forces as well as bombings and shootings targeting Shiites.
