RIYADH, JULY 8: Twelve Pakistanis and seven Saudis have been arrested for links to three bombings in Saudi Arabia, one of which killed four police officials, authorities said.
A suicide bomber detonated himself on Monday in a hospital parking lot in Jeddah as security personnel approached him.
The bomber, who died instantly, was identified as a Pakistani. Two security personnel were slightly wounded in the attack.
The same day, a suicide bomber caused a blast near Prophet Mohammed’s mosque in the city of Madina killing four police officials.
And in Qatif, an eastern city home to many members of the Shia minority, two explosions struck near a Shia mosque. The bomber was the only casualty in the attack.
Saudi Arabian authorities confirmed the arrest of 19 people, including seven Saudis and 12 Pakistanis, in connection to Madina and Qatif suicide blasts.
The interior ministry said the suicide bomber at Madina was a 26-year-old Saudi man, Naer Musllam Hammad Al-Nijaidi who had been arrested earlier in a drug case.
The ministry also named three others it said carried out the attacks in Qatif: Abdulrahman Saleh Mohammed Al-Amer, 23, who was detained two years ago “for having been involved in a mob calling for the release of terror-related detainees”, Ibrhaim Saleh Mohammed Al-Amer, 20, and Abdulkareem Ibrahim Mohammed Al-Hasini, 20.
The statement added that examination of the remains from the terror attacks in Madina and Qatif “revealed the presence of the explosive Nitroglycerin”, which it said was similar to the substance found in the scene of the bombing at the Jeddah parking lot. Monday’s bombings came days before the end of the holy month of Ramadan when Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.
Militant attacks on Madina are unprecedented. The city is home to the second holiest site in Islam, a mosque built by the Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam, which also houses his tomb.
