Mecca attack ‘foiled’

Saudi security forces yesterday foiled a suicide attack on the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, cornering the would-be attacker in an apartment, where he blew himself up, the Interior Ministry said.

In a statement read on state television, the ministry said three cells had planned the attack on worshippers and security forces at the mosque as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan nears its climax.

The trapped would-be suicide bomber exchanged fire with the security forces, then set off explosives when he was surrounded in a house in the central Mecca neighbourhood of Ajyad al-Masafi that had been used as the base for the attack, the ministry said. The building collapsed, injuring six foreigners and five members of the security forces.

Earlier in the day, security forces had shot dead a wanted man at another suspected Islamist militant hideout in Mecca’s al-Aseelah neighbourhood. The ministry also said a third cell had been broken up in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, but gave no further details.

Five suspected militants including a woman were arrested, it said.

The month of fasting ends with the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, today and tomorrow. Saudi monarchs usually spend the last 10 days of Ramadan in Mecca.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the plot to attack the mosque, but Isis (Islamic State), which wants to establish a theocratic caliphate ruled according to strict Islamic law, has in the past carried out attacks in the kingdom.