Attack on Saudi mosque kills 17

Citing the interior ministry, Reuters reported that of the estimated 15 fatalities, “12 were members of the [Special Emergency Force], while three were workers in the compound”.

[In Yemen, many bombs but shrinking water supplies] .

The suicide bomber in an attack on a southwest Saudi mosque has been identified, the Saudi Interior Ministry said Saturday. The interior ministry tweeted that “the remains of the dead were found on the site” and the deaths are “believed to be caused by the bombing of explosive belts.”

Saud, a stateless Arab, said the footage was genuine and recognized the bomber in the video. On May 29, four people were killed in another suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in the port city of Dammam, also in the Eastern Province.

A group affiliated with ISIL calling itself Najd Province – which takes its name from the region around Riyadh – claimed those attacks as well as another suicide bombing that killed 26 people at a Shia mosque in Kuwait in June.

[Saudi-led coalition plans ground attacks in Yemen after taking key city].

“This [ISIS] group is seeking to target [Saudi] security men in an effort to undermine their resolve”, Turki told Asharq Al-Awsat via telephone, adding that such attacks “will only make the security personnel more determined to carry out their duties”.

Saudi security services have announced in the past months the arrest of hundreds of people across the kingdom supporting ISIS, planning attacks and promoting its ideology. It was carried on Islamic State-affiliated Twitter accounts and was also reported by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant messages. Several attacks in the region bear the hallmark of IS. “The other part of the symbolism is that it” targeted a Sunni mosque, he said.

Thursday’s attack was the deadliest against Saudi security forces since ISIL attacks first appeared in the kingdom a year ago.

The latest cross-border barrages coincide with advances since late July by pro-government fighters who recaptured the southern city of Aden from Houthi rebels. It has additionally sheltered Yemen’s exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi whose loyalists at residence are battling Iran-backed Shiite rebels generally known as Houthis.