Three suicide bombers struck in Saudi Arabia yesterday in a rare incidence of multiple attacks in the kingdom. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
The latest explosion occurred near the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel reported.
Other blasts occurred in the Red Sea city of Jeddah near the US consulate and in Qatif on the other side of the country.
The interior ministry said two security officers were wounded in the Jeddah bombing.
Residents of Qatif said only the bomber died in that attack, blowing his body apart near a mosque.
Al-Arabiya said the Madinah incident occurred during sunset prayers. It showed images of fire raging in a security forces parking lot with at least one body nearby.
Extremists from the Islamic State (IS) claimed, or were blamed for, a suicide bombing in Baghdad on Sunday that killed more than 200 people as well as other attacks in Bangladesh and at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.
At about the same time as the Madinah blast, another bomber killed himself in Qatif, residents there said.
“Suicide bomber for sure. I can see the body” torn apart, said one witness to the attack in Qatif.
Nasima al-Sada, another resident, told AFP that “one bomber blew himself up near the mosque” in downtown Qatif on the Gulf coast. No bystanders were hurt, she said.
Another witness, who gave his name only as Ayman, told AFP there were two explosions near the mosque. “One of them was from a car parked outside the mosque and in which there was a man who was, unusually, not joining the prayer,” Ayman said.
Yesterday’s first bombing, near the US consulate in Jeddah, was carried out not by a Saudi but by a “resident foreigner”, General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, told Al-Arabiya.
Turki told state Al-Ekhbaria news channel that the suspect, in his 30s, was closer to a mosque in the area than to the American consulate.
“Investigations (are) ongoing to find out the goals and motives of the bomber,” said Turki.
He also said on the news channel’s Twitter account that “devices that failed to explode (were) found in the vicinity of the site”.
The American embassy in Riyadh reported no injuries among US consulate staff.
The interior ministry said security personnel became suspicious of the man near the parking lot of a hospital which is across from the US diplomatic mission.
When they moved in to investigate at around 2:15am local time, the man “blew himself up with a suicide belt”, the ministry said.
A picture carried by the Sabq online newspaper showed a large body part lying on the ground between a taxi and the open door of another car that was peppered with holes.

Qatar condemns explosions

Qatar has condemned the explosions that took place in Saudi Arabia yesterday. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed its condemnation of “those criminal acts that contradict all humanitarian, moral and Islamic values”. The Ministry  expressed “Qatar’s support to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the latter faces these crimes committed against innocent people”, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported. Qatar highlighted the kingdom’s leading role in the region, particularly in counter-terrorism. The statement  stressed “Qatar’s support to all measures the kingdom will take to preserve its peace and stability. The ministry conveyed Qatar’s condolences to the people of Saudi Arabia and the families of the victims, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

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