Saudi authorities blame IS for police killings

Saudi Arabia says it has seized three car bombs and weapons during investigation into deaths of two policemen earlier this month in Riyadh.
2 min read
24 April, 2015
The government said weapons and ammunition were also seized [AFP]
Saudi Arabia has blamed the Islamic State group for the murder of two police in Riyadh earlier this month, adding it had seized three car-bombs during its investigation into their deaths. 

A Saudi man arrested on suspicion of carrying out the shooting has confessed that he was following orders received from IS in Syria, the interior ministry said. He was named as 23-year-old Yazid bin Muhammed Abdulrahman Abu Niyan.

A second suspect, Nawaf bin Sharif Samir al-Anzi, is wanted, and a $267,000 reward offered for information leading to his capture.

The ministry said three "booby-trapped" cars had been found during police investigations. Four others were seized, as well as suspected bomb-making materials and tools, a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Machineguns, ammunition, money and several mobile phones revealing an exchange between the attackers and "terrorist elements in Syria" were also found, it said.

The two policemen were killed in an 8 April shooting in an eastern district of Riyadh.

The ministry said that Abu Niyan allegedly carried out the shooting. His alleged accomplice was his driver and filmed the attack, it added.

Abu Niyan confessed that IS supplied them with the weapons, ammunition and money to carry out the shooting through a "third party whom they did not meet", the statement said.

Saudi Arabia is part of a US-led coalition taking part in an air war against IS, which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq.