Two Saudi terrorism suspects shot dead in Riyadh

One of the men killed after refusing to surrender was the maker of explosive belts used in suicide attacks, interior ministry says.

Photos by Saudi authorities of two suspected extremists who were shot dead during a police raid in Riyadh on January 7, 2017. Saudi Press Agency via AP

Riyadh // Saudi security forces shot and killed two suspected Saudi extremists in the capital on Saturday.

One of the men, Tayeh Al Saihari, was wanted by authorities for his alleged involvement in extremist attacks and was spotted in a house in a northern Riyadh neighbourhood, the interior ministry said.

The ministry said Al Saihari was with Talal Al Saidi, also wanted by the authorities on suspicion of belonging to extremists groups, according to a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Al Saihari had “prepared the explosive belts that were used in suicide attacks”, including the deadly bombing of a headquarters of the special forces in 2015 and near the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina last July, the ministry said.

Security forces surrounded the house at dawn and ordered the suspects to surrender but they refused and fired at police who then launched an assault, killing them both.

The ministry said two explosive belts “ready to be activated” were found in the house, as well as a homemade bomb and materials that could be used to make explosives.

The extremist group ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack on the special forces headquarters, which killed 15 people. There was no claim responsibility for the attack in Medina, in which four security guards were killed.

Since late 2014, ISIL has claimed a series of bombings and shootings against Shiites in the Sunni-majority kingdom, as well against security forces.

* Agence France-Presse