Suicide bombers struck three cities across Saudi Arabia on Monday, in an apparently co-ordinated campaign of attacks as Saudis prepared to break their fast on the penultimate day of Ramadan.
The explosions targeting US diplomats, Shia worshippers and a security headquarters at a mosque in the holy city of Medina follow days of mass killings claimed by Islamic State terrorists in Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq.
The attacks all seem to have been timed to coincide with the approach of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that celebrates the end of the fast.
A Saudi security official said an attacker parked a car near the US consulate in Jeddah before detonating the device. The official said the government was checking the reports of blasts in Qatif and Medina.
In the only one of the three attacks that appeared to have caused many casualties, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb near the security headquarters of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the second-holiest site in Islam.
Death toll
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television said an initial death toll from the Medina blast included three suicide bombers and two security forces officers. A video sent to Reuters by a witness to the aftermath of the Medina bombing showed a large blaze among parked cars with a sound of sirens in the background. A picture sent to Reuters showed a burnt and bleeding man lying on a stretcher in a hospital.
Other pictures circulating on social media showed dark smoke billowing from flames near the Mosque of the Prophet, originally built in the 7th century by the Prophet Muhammad, who is buried there along with his first two successors.
Shia minority
In Qatif, an eastern city that is home to many members of the Shia minority, at least one and possibly two explosions struck near a Shia mosque.
There were believed to be no casualties there apart from the attacker, as worshippers had already gone home to break their fasts. Civil defence forces were cleaning up the area and police were investigating.
A video on social media purporting to show the aftermath of a Qatif blast showed an agitated crowd on a street, with a fire raging near a building, and a bloody body part lying on the ground. Reuters could not immediately verify the video.
Hours earlier a suicide bomber was killed and two people wounded in a blast near the US consulate in the kingdom’s second city Jeddah. That blast was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom. There was no claim of responsibility. Isis has carried out bombing and shooting attacks in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014. – (Reuters)