German man killed in Saudi Arabia attack
A German man who worked as a caterer for Saudi Arabia’s national airline was shot and killed today by unknown assailants, an Interior Ministry official said.
Authorities are investigating whether the attack in Riyadh, the capital, was a terrorist or a criminal one, the official said.
The man, who worked for Saudi Arabian Airlines, was shot on Prince Abdullah Highway, a popular shopping thoroughfare in eastern Riyadh.
Police cordoned off a strip mall where the shooting occurred and would not let journalists approach.
The mall included a bank, fast food restaurants and a sweets shop.
Arab news network Al-Jazeera said the man was shot in the head and body while leaving a shop. It said the attacker, an “unidentified militant”, ran away.
The attack came two days after Saudi security forces killed four militants in a shoot-out north of the capital following a raid in which weapons and explosives-making material were seized.
Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a high-profile crackdown on terrorists following attacks in the capital last year.
The government says it has foiled dozens of terror attacks in the kingdom since the campaign began. Most of the attacks were blamed on al-Qaida.
The most recent terrorist attack in the kingdom, on May 1, targeted the offices of an American energy company in the western city of Yanbu, killing six Westerners and a Saudi.
