Two dead following attack on Saudi checkpoint

Two men have been shot dead and two arrested following an attack on a Saudi border checkpoint, Riyadh said on Sunday.

State media claimed that the men attempted to bomb the checkpoint in Abu Hadriyah - in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province and connected to Bahrain and Kuwait - to escape the country on Sunday.

Two of the men were killed in the attack as they "threw bombs" at the soldiers, while two more were arrested, Al-Arabiya claimed, while two Saudi servicemen were injured.

Riyadh claimed three of the men were on a "most wanted" list and from Qatif, in a Shia-majority area which has witnessed frequent militant attacks on troops and police in the eastern region.

Saudi forces executed a leading Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr in 2016, sparking outrage in the Eastern Province and Iran.

A siege on Shia-majority al-Amawiyah a year later also saw huge destruction to the eastern Saudi town.

Saudi Arabia's Shia minority accuses the government of severe repression against their religious and human rights.