(MENAFN- The Peninsula) An Islamic State jihadist killed three people Friday when he blew himself up in a car outside a Shiite mosque in Saudi Arabia, the second such attack in a week.
The bombing, again coinciding with weekly Friday prayers, was the third attack since November to target Shiites in the oil-rich Eastern Province where most of the country's Shiites live.
According to the interior ministry it killed three people and wounded four.
The suicide bomber - disguised in women's clothing - detonated his device at the entrance to the mosque, the official Saudi Press Agency cited a ministry spokesman as saying.
"Authorities have managed to foil a terrorist crime targeting people performing the Friday prayers at Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam," the provincial capital, he said.
The bomber "detonated the explosive belt he was wearing at the mosque entrance as security officials were on their way to inspect him", he said, citing preliminary results of the investigation.
The explosion happened just as the attacker's vehicle stopped at a car park near the mosque, the spokesman said.
IS, in a statement distributed by jihadist accounts on Twitter, quickly said the attack was carried out by "soldier of the caliphate Abu Jandal al-Jazrawi".
It said the bomber managed to "reach the target despite heavy protection" outside the mosque.
Friday's blast comes exactly seven days after the jihadist group sent a suicide bomber into another Shiite mosque in Eastern Province.
- Security committees -
Twenty-one people were killed in the May 22 blast, which IS also claimed.
Sympathisers of the Sunni extremist group are also accused by the Saudi authorities of gunning down seven members of the minority Shiite community last November.
Activist Nassima al-Sada, who arrived at the site after the latest attack, said the bomber blew himself up after security volunteers tried to prevent him from entering the ladies' side of the only Shiite mosque in Dammam.
Women were not allowed to pray at the mosque this week for security reasons, Sada said.
After the previous week's deadly attack, residents had set up security committees to search those entering mosques during prayers, witnesses said.
They added that the authorities had not themselves brought in any extra security measures around Shiite mosques despite the attacks.
Rights group Amnesty International said in a statement on Friday the Saudi authorities must take "immediate steps" to protect Shiites "from sectarian violence and put an end to decades of systematic discrimination".
Frederic Wehrey, a Gulf analyst at the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told AFP that "the attack may have been calculated to incite greater distrust among the city's residents.
"I think one dangerous result of these increased bombings is the Shiites' loss of faith in the security services, potential formation of local self-protection units or vigilantism," he said.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.