Eleven people, including two terrorists and two security officers, died in terror-related attacks on Tuesday in Al-Ahsa in the Eastern Province and Al-Shaqra in Qassim Province.
“Seven men were killed and seven injured when three masked men opened fire at a group of citizens in Dalwah town in Al-Ahsa governorate,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki.
“Fifteen men involved in the terror act were caught in simultaneous police operations in six cities, including Shaqra in Qassim province, and Al-Ahsa and Alkhobar in the Eastern Province,” Al-Turki said.
In the operations in Shaqra, two security officers and two wanted terror suspects died. The slain security officers were identified as Capt. Mohammed Al-Enezi and Corp. Turki Al-Rasheed.
Al-Rasheed was transferred to Qassim recently, and his wife gave birth to a daughter two months ago.
The Council of Senior Scholars condemned the attack. “This dastardly attack is a horrendous crime that should result in the harshest form of punishment under Islamic law because it ... took the lives of innocent people and disrupted the country’s security, stability and peaceful life of citizens,” Sheikh Fahd Al-Majed, secretary general of the council, said in a statement.
The sheikh also called on citizens to unite against attempts by criminals to destabilize the country and play into the hands of the enemies of Islam.
A source at Al-Jeffer hospital released the names of the deceased. They are Muhammad Al-Mushrif bin Husain Saleh Al-Mushrif, Hadi Khalifa Al-Motawieh, Muhammad Husain Al-Basrawi, Ibn Salman Al-Basheer and Zuhair Habib Al-Motawieh.
According to eyewitnesses, several unidentified gunmen shot at a group of mourners. There were contradictory reports about the type of car used by the perpetrators.
Another eyewitness said the police chased after the shooters in the direction of Al-Jeffer, Taraf and Jesha villages.
Earlier, a spokesman of the Eastern Province police said three masked gunmen got out of a car parked in front of a house in Dalwah and opened fire at a group of people leaving a building.
They opened fire with machine guns and pistols. The injured are being treated at a local hospital.
Al-Ahsa Gov. Prince Badr bin Jelawi visited the injured at the hospital. “It is a criminal and terrorist act that harms society. Such acts are unacceptable,” he told reporters.
Most of the injured are under 18.
