Saudi Arabia Detains Suspects in Attack against Shia

KABUL: (Middle East Press) Saudi Arabia arrested four people behind an attack on Shia Muslims earlier this month, a security official said, adding that the attacks are believed to have been ordered (ISIL) militant group.

Seven members of the Shia minority were shot dead in the Eastern Province district of al-Ahsa on November 3 as they gathered to memorialize Ashura.

Saudi Arabia put down an rise by armed groups a decade ago, but fear is building over the likelihood of insurgents from the ISIL or al-Qaeda associate Nusra Front, now operating in Syria or Iraq, radicalizing Saudis to escalate a new wave of strikes inside the kingdom.

On Monday, the official news agency cited an Interior Ministry security spokesman as saying that 77 suspects had been detained so far, and that they were believed to include the four main perpetrators.

He said the leader of the al-Ahsa attack had received orders from abroad, and that “the target, as well as those to be targeted and the timing were all specified for him, as well as the provision that the (attack) be carried out in al-Ahsa”.

The leader had picked three followers, and these had scouted out the target, seized a car, killed its owner, and used it in the attack, Reuters reported.

The spokesman said security forces carried out operations “to arrest everyone associated with this terrorist group, whether those who pledged commitment to the leader of the group, or participants, supporters, financiers, or those who provide cover”.

According to ministry, two Saudis and a Qatari were killed as they resisted arrest, along with two security forces.