Saudi Arabia identifies bombers in 2 attacks this week

The ministry also revealed the names of three other men who perpetrated suicide attacks on the same day in the Saudi area of Qatif.

In a statement published by kingdom’s official SPA news agency, the Saudi interior ministry said that the attack in Madina was carried out by a 26-year-old Saudi man, Naer Moslem Hammad al-Balawi, who had a “history of drug use”.

A security spokesman said the body of a bomber and two other people in the Qatif bombing have been identified but did not provide details.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks but their nature and their apparently coordinated timing suggested the Islamic State group could be to blame.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said the attack in the holy month showed that terrorism “knows no religion or belief or any meaning of humanity”.

The Saudi ministry said the attacker in the Medina assault set off the bomb in a parking lot after security officers became suspicious about him.

“The government and people of Pakistan are deeply shocked and saddened over the terrorist attacks in holy land and share the pain and grief of their Saudi brethren”, Nawaz said.

The group has targeted Saudi security personnel before.

The Jeddah blast, carried out early Monday morning, was the first bombing in years to attempt to target foreigners in the kingdom and coincided with the US July 4 Independence Day holiday.

“That’s not an act that represents Islam”, said Altayeb Osama, a 25-year-old Sudanese visitor to Medina and resident of Abu Dhabi who heard two large booms about a minute apart as he was heading toward the mosque for sunset prayers Monday.

Cairo-based Al-Azhar, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, condemned the attacks and stressed “the sanctity of the houses of God, especially the Prophet’s Mosque”.

Three suicide bombers behind a botched attack, also Monday, outside a Shia mosque in the eastern region of Qatif in which no civilians or police were wounded, were identified as Abdulrahman Saleh Mohammed, Ibrahim Saleh Mohammed and Abdelkarim al-Hesni, all in their early 20s.

“There are no more red lines left for terrorists to cross”.

No group has so far taken credit of these attacks.