Saudi security forces kill four suspected militants
Saudi security forces battled suspected al-Qaida militants across the kingdom today, killing four wanted extremists in the capital and clashing with armed men in the holy city of Medina.
The kingdom’s Interior Ministry officials also said at least one suspected militant was arrested in Riyadh and an unspecified number were detained in Medina, west of the capital, where the country’s new monarch, King Abdullah, was visiting.
Interior Ministry Spokesman Mansour al-Turki said a firefight began in Riyadh after security forces launched an early morning raid on an apartment in al-Massef, a northern residential area of the capital.
“Security forces during the early morning stormed a number of places in Riyadh and Medina, where it is suspected some of those affiliated to the deviant group were hiding,” al-Turki said in an official statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Authorities here regularly refer to militants belonging to the Saudi branch of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network as the “deviant group.”
Another security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that four militants were killed in the Riyadh shootout, during which a hand grenade was thrown at the police but did not explode.
The nationalities of the slain militants and third who was arrested while trying to flee the scene were not immediately clear.
Police helicopters hovered overhead the Riyadh apartment as security forces sealed off the area, preventing pedestrians or vehicles entering or leaving the scene.
After the clashes ended, police entered the apartment and found weapons and explosives inside, according to al-Turki.
Fighting also broke out in several districts in the holy city of Medina, 450 miles west of Riyadh, between militants and police.
Acting on a tip, police went to a location in Medina’s Bahr district, about three miles from a mosque where Islam’s Prophet Muhammad is buried, and arrested an unspecified number of suspects, another unidentified security official said.
Al-Turki told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya network that eight militants are suspected to be in different locations in Medina. No further details were immediately available.
It was unclear if any of those killed or detained during today’s operations were on the government’s latest list of 36 most wanted militants, who are being sought in connection to terror attacks against the kingdom dating back to 2003.
King Abdullah was visiting Medina to meet Islamic clerics and tribal leaders who were expected to pledge their allegiance to him, the official added.
Since May 2003, Islamic militants have carried out numerous suicide bombings and kidnappings and have regularly battled security forces. The attacks, which have tended to target Westerners and housing complexes were Westerners live, have been blamed on al-Qaida and its allies.
Saudi forces claim to have gotten the upper hand against terror cells, killing or capturing all but three of the figures on a previous most wanted list of 25 militants.
