Suicide Bombers Blow Up Outside A Shiite Mosque In Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) braces for a likelihood of sectarian-fueled violence after four people were reportedly killed and 18 wounded in a bloody suicide bomb attack that rocked a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers in the eastern part of the country, law enforcement authorities confirmed.
According to ABC News, the incident took place when a suicide bomber and another armed attacker forced themselves into the Imam Shiite mosque frequented by Shiite employees of the world's biggest oil-producer, the government-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
The Interior Ministry said that authorities managed to prevent the attackers from breaking into the mosque.
"When security men stopped them, one blew himself up at the entrance of the mosque and there was an exchange of fire with the other. He was wounded and arrested wearing an explosive belt," said the ministry spokesman as quoted by Al Jazeera.
The chaotic scene that followed the attack which resulted to the apprehension of one of the attackers by the police forced to the police to shoot bullets into the air to disperse the crowd that surrounded the police vehicle.
Sunni-Shiite tensions in the Islamic kingdom is increasingly flaring up since ISIS took vast swathes of territories across various countries in the Middle East where security is particularly weak.
Sectarian differences even got more complicated following the execution of a prominent Shia cleric critical of the Saudi government in a country where 85-90% of the people belonged to the Sunni branch of Islam as mentioned in a report by CNN.
