4 dead as Saudi 'foils' attack on Shia mosque: ministry

The explosion went off as security officials approached the car as it was being driven to a parking lot near the Shiite mosque of Al-Unood in the Gulf city of Dammam, said a ministry spokesman quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.

“Authorities have managed to foil a terrorist crime targeting people performing the Friday prayers at Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam,” capital of Eastern Province, said a ministry spokesman quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.

“When they headed towards it, it exploded killing four people, at least one of them believed to be its driver,” he said, adding that other nearby vehicles caught fire.

Video from inside mosque in #Dammam, #Saudi Arabia purports to capture the moment the suicide bomb went off outside pic.twitter.com/5g3sMXCEGG

— Mohamed Yehia (@yeh1a) May 29, 2015

A picture of the attack outside the mosque in Damman — posted on Twitter.

“When they headed towards it, it exploded killing four people, at least one of them believed to be its driver,” he said.

After last week’s attack, residents set up security committees to search those entering mosques during prayers, witnesses said.

Women were not allowed to pray at the mosque this week over security fears, Sada said.

The interior ministry spokesman said that investigations were ongoing.

In November, gunmen killed seven Shiites in the Eastern Province town of Al-Dalwa.

Most of the kingdom’s Shiite minority live in the oil-rich east but have long complained of marginalisation. – AFP