Many dead as suicide bomber attacks Shia mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia
A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up at a Shia mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia during Friday prayers, residents said, and up to 30 people were reported to have been killed or wounded.
The emergency doctor at Qatif Central Hospital said at least 70 people had been injured, ‘ some very critically’.
No-one immediately claimed to have carried out the bombing, the first to target Shia Muslims in Saudi A r abia s i nc e November when gunmen killed at least eight people in an attack on a religious anniversary celebration, also in the east.
The attack could further harm relations between Sunnis and Shias in the Gulf region, where tensions have risen during weeks of military operations in Yemen by a Saudiled coalition against Houthi fighters, who are seen as proxies of Iran.
One witness described a huge explosion at the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh. He estimated there were at least 30 casualties in the attack, where more than 150 people were praying.
“We were doing the first part of the prayers when we heard the blast,” worshipper Kamal Jaafar Hassan told Reuters by telephone from the scene.
Al-Arabiya television quoted a journalist at the scene as saying that at least six people were killed.
State news agency SPA quoted a security spokesman confirming an explosion at a mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, where most of the country’s minority Shia population lives. A spokesman for the Saudi interior ministry could not immediately be reached for comment.
A photograph posted on social media showed the mutilated body of a young man, said to be the suicide bomber. Other pictures showed ambulances and bloodied victims being taken away on stretchers.
The attack came as the Saudis lead a coalition of Arab states in an air campaign against Shia rebels in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia has also been threatened by IS, which is being targeted by a US-led coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia.
More than 2,000 Saudis are believed to have joined IS. The kingdom has launched a security crackdown in recent months, arresting hundreds suspected of IS sympathies.