Saudi Arabia: Several Suspects Held After Multiple Islamic State Strikes
By Arab News
Monday’s terrorist attacks in Madinah, Jeddah and Qatif were reportedly planned by Daesh in Syria, which chose elements inside the Kingdom and provided them with suicide bombs to carry out the attacks, according to sources.
“The nation is proud of its children who sacrificed their lives to defend us, and we will not forget them; they remain a source of pride and honor for this country,” said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif who on Tuesday received the families of the victims at the Prophet’s Mosque.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told a local newspaper that preliminary investigations point to coordination and connection between the Madinah and the Qatif attacks — the suicide bombers in both cities had the same goal of targeting a mosque, and carried out the attack at the same time.
Investigations are underway. Several suspects have been arrested including the family members of Pakistani terrorist Gulzar Khan who blew himself up close to the US Consulate in Jeddah and the owner of the booby-trapped car used in Qatif.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry held an impromptu meeting on Tuesday with Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and talked about the need to defeat Daesh, the US State Department said.
Kerry and Al-Jubeir also discussed the need for a political transition in Syria, the situation in Libya, the effort to reach a political resolution in Yemen and recent developments between the Israelis and Palestinians.
