Saudi police shoot dead terror suspect in Taif

The gunman was killed after refusing to surrender to security forces hunting him over his suspected involvement in an attempt to infiltrate a police station parking area in the province on Sunday, a ministry statement said.

It identified him as Mohammed al-Maliki, adding that he had threatened to attack the police in a video message and had been involved in a previous attack in which a police officer was killed.

Last week, Saudi's interior ministry said terrorist attacks in the kingdom stood at a staggering rate of one every 12 days.

Islamic State [IS] group claimed bombings and other attacks targeting security forces.

Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition bombing IS in Iraq and Syria, and Saudi political and religious leaders routinely denounce IS attacks as contrary to Islam.

The militant group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has called Saudi Arabia's rulers "apostate tyrants," urging Saudis to rise up against them.

But a report last year by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force said Saudis comprised of the second largest nationality among "foreign terrorist fighters" with IS.

More than 800 Saudi militants return to Saudi Arabia from Syria and Iraq. They are often admitted into the kingdom's rehabilitation centres before being released again.

But many say they return with instructions from IS-leaders to foster terror activities in their home country.

Attacks against state officials, security officers and armed installation have since escalated.

The kingdom's Shia community, which the militant group considers to be heretics, has also suffered from IS terror with numerous bombings targeting mosques in the predominantly Shia eastern province.