Suicide bombers blow themselves up after Saudi firefight

Two men accused of planning attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia blew themselves up following a confrontation with security forces in the Red Sea city of Jeddah today, the interior ministry said.

Saudi security forces surrounded a house in Jeddah’s eastern Al-Harazat district and exchanged fire with the men, who blew themselves up, an interior ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by state news agency SPA.

A Saudi man and his Pakistani wife alleged to have links to the men were arrested, the spokesman said.

Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV showed footage of smoke rising above Jeddah and an explosion tearing through a building.

Sabq, a news agency connected with the Saudi interior ministry, released photographs on its Twitter account.

#Terrorists killed during security operations in Aharazat neighborhood, #Jeddah. — Courtesy Sabq online pic.twitter.com/SuxcjmlYbD

— Saudi Gazette (@Saudi_Gazette) January 21, 2017

Daesh has carried out a series of bombings and shootings in Saudi Arabia since mid-2014 that have killed scores of people, mostly members of the security services.

Last year, a suicide bomber was killed and two people were wounded in a blast near the US consulate in Jeddah, the first bombing in years to target foreigners in the kingdom. Bombings also targeted security personnel near the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the second holiest site in Islam.