Saudi Arabia attack: Islamic State claims Shia mosque bombing

[European Knight]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...sque/27777881/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32843510

The Islamic State (IS) group says it was behind a suicide bombing on a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia that killed at least 10 people.

The attack in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province is the first to be claimed by the Saudi branch of IS, which was formally established last November.

The claim was posted on Twitter with an image of the bomber by an account that is a reliable source on the group.

IS has previously threatened to attack Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia.

Witnesses reported a huge blast at the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, in Qatif governorate during Friday prayers.

A doctor at the hospital told the BBC that at least 10 people were killed and about 70 injured, "some very critically".

'Terrorist crime'

Television pictures of the Saudi bombing showed shattered glass and debris inside the mosque, where scores were said to have been praying.

A spokesman for the Saudi interior ministry said the bomber detonated a suicide belt inside the mosque, causing a number of people to be "martyred or wounded".

"Security authorities will spare no effort in the pursuit of all those involved in this terrorist crime," the official said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

[European Knight]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...tack-on-mosque

Saudi King Salman vowed to punish those responsible for a suicide attack on Shiite-Muslim worshippers, describing it as “heinous crime” that killed innocent people in the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province.

“Every participant, planner, supporter, collaborator, or sympathizer with this heinous crime will be held accountable, tried and punished,” King Salman said in a statement on the official Saudi Press Agency. “Our efforts will never stop at any time from fighting the deviant thought.”

Friday’s attack comes as Saudi Arabia participates in U.S.- led operations against Islamic State in Syria and as it leads a military intervention against Shiite rebels in Yemen.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed 21.

Saudi Arabia identified late Saturday the suicide bomber as 20 year-old Saleh al-Qashami, the Riyadh-based SPA said, citing an unidentified interior ministry spokesman.

He was wanted for belonging to an Islamic State affiliate in the kingdom, the news service said.

The explosive used at Qudeih in Qatif was a military-grade compound known as RDX, SPA said.