Police die in Saudi hospital siege
Saudi security forces raided a farm today, setting off a running gun battle that ended with a hospital siege and at least five dead, officials said.
They said an unknown number of suspects escaped the raid on the farm near Jizan, about 600 miles south of the capital, Riyadh, and took refuge in the hospital, taking a number of hostages.
At least two policeman and three militants died in the firefight, said officials.
They did not reveal why the suspects had been initially sought.
The Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera television quoted a witness as saying the gunmen holed up in a hospital housing unit with the hostages, who were released as security forces stormed in The witness, identified only as Abdallah Abu Ezz Edin, said most of the hostages were foreigners.
Ezz Edi said at least two security officers were killed. He said four armed attackers surrendered.
Further details were not immediately available. The Saudi government has cracked down on Islamic militants since suicide bombings in Riyadh killed 26 people, as well as the nine attackers, in May.
More than 200 suspects have been arrested and more than a dozen killed in a series of high-profile police raids since then.
