Islamic State claims Saudi Arabia bomb attack

A small bomb exploded outside a highway patrol station in the al-Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia late on Thursday, the attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

29 April, 2016

The extremist group has also claimed several previous attacks in the kingdom [Getty]

Islamic State militants have allegedly claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in the Shia-majority eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

One officer was lightly wounded in the attack on the security centre in al-Ahsa, while five vehicles were reportedly damaged.

A website attributed to the militants took responsibility for the bombing while suggesting involvement in other assaults in the area.

But a police statement published on the state-run Saudi Press Agency did not mention other recent attacks.

The Islamic State group’s Saudi affiliate has conducted several attacks in the kingdom.

In February, a sticky bomb targeting Saudi armed forces in the capital was claimed by the group.

The kingdom’s Shia community has also suffered from the Islamic State group with numerous bombings targeting mosques in the predominantly-Shia eastern province.

Two gunmen wearing suicide bomb belts attacked the Imam Redha Mosque in the Mehasin neighbourhood, an area popular with Shia workers of state-run Aramco, the world's largest oil-producing firm in February.

The first attacker, identified by the authorities as 22-year-old Saudi national Abdul Rahman Abdullah Sulaiman al-Tuwaijri, detonated his explosives, while Egyptian Talha Hesham Mohamed Abdu opened fire on the worshippers during Friday prayers.

Four people were killed and 18 others injured in the assault.

In October 2015, the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a mosque in the Saudi city of Najran which killed two and injured 12.

More than 50 people have been killed in Islamic State attacks carried out across the kingdom since August 2014.