Reuters ABU DHABI: An ISIS militant suicide bomber disguised as a woman
blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia Friday, killing himself and three
other people, the second attack of its kind in the world's top oil exporter in one
week.
The bombing, which was claimed by ISIS, could further escalate
sectarian strife in the kingdom, where anti-Shiite sentiment has been stoked by a military campaign
against Iranian-allied Houthi militias in neighboring Yemen since
March.
The Interior Ministry said a suicide bomber disguised in women's
clothes blew himself up outside the al-Anoud mosque's entrance in the city of Dammam during noon
prayers.
Witnesses said a suicide bomber, who wore an Abaya used by women
in Saudi Arabia, blew himself up in the mosque's parking lot when guards searching worshippers
became suspicious of him.
The ministry said four people, including the
bomber, were killed in the blast, which also set several cars
ablaze.
Residents circulated pictures of the body of a man believed to be
the suicide bomber as well as pictures of black clouds of smoke billowing over a parking lot outside
the mosque.
Video posted on social media showed the congregation inside the
mosque reacting with shock and alarm to the noise of the explosion outside the
building.
An ISIS statement named the suicide bomber as Abu Jandal
al-Jizrawi and said he had managed to reach his target despite heightened
security.
ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last week at a
Shiite mosque in al-Qadeeh village, near al-Qatif city, that killed 21 and wounded nearly 100 in the
bloodiest militant attack in the kingdom in years.
Saudi Arabia, which is
leading an Arab coalition in a campaign against the Houthis who have seized power from Yemeni
President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi, had sought to calm sectarian
tensions.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman has denounced the al-Qadeeh bombing
and promsied to punish anyone linked to it. King Salman also sent Crown Prince Mohammad bin Nayef to
convey condolences to the families.
Members of Saudi's Shiite minority
staged separate protest in Dammam and in the village of al-Qadeeh Friday evening, demanding an end
to sectarianism, witnesses said.
ISIS openly acknowledges it is trying to
stir sectarian confrontation as a way of hastening the overthrow of the ruling al-Saud family, and
has urged young Saudi Sunnis in the kingdom to attack targets including
Shiites.
Some commentators in Saudi Arabia discussing the Qadeeh bombing
have said the kingdom has not done enough to crack down on online abuse of Shiites, a discourse
which Shiites say provides an incubator for violence against the minority
sect.
Sunni power Saudi and Shiite Iran are locked in a tussle for
influence in the region, where wars have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives mainly in Syria,
Iraq and Yemen.
ISIS claims second Saudi attack
Associated Press RIYADH: A suicide bomber disguised as a woman blew himself up in the parking lot of a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, killing himself and three others in the second such attack in as many weeks claimed by ISIS.
The latest attack and a suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque that killed 21 people last Friday appeared aimed at fanning sectarianism and destabilizing the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia had vowed to crack down on the extremists after last week’s bombing, and authorities appeared keen to claim credit for preventing the bomber from entering the Imam Hussein Mosque, the only Shiite mosque in the port city of Dammam. The state-run Saudi Press Agency said security guards halted a car in the parking lot and the bomber detonated his explosives as they approached.
But witnesses said worshippers had taken their own security measures, including setting up checkpoints, and young men had detected the bomber and chased him down, leading him to set off the explosion.
Mohammad Idris, a worshipper who witnessed the attack, told the AP by telephone that the suicide bomber attempted to enter the mosque but was chased by young men, who had set up checkpoints at the entrance. “They chased the suicide bomber when he tried to enter the women’s section of the mosque,” he said.Another witness, who did not want to be identified because of security concerns, said security had been tightened at mosques after last week’s attack and that women were told to stay home because there were not enough female guards to check them.
Body parts were scattered around the area after the explosion, which set four cars ablaze and sent black smoke into the air, said Mohammad al-Saidi, who arrived half an hour after the blast.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by its “Najd Province.” A statement posted on a Facebook page used by the extremist group said a “soldier of the caliphate,” identified as Abu Jandal al-Jazrawi, blew himself up among “an evil gathering of those filth in front of one of their shrines in Dammam.” The name Jazrawi suggests that the bomber is a Saudi national.
It called on Sunnis to “purify the land of the two shrines from the atheist rafida,” a derogatory term for Shiites.
Last Friday, an ISIS suicide bomber killed 21 people in the village of Al-Qadeeh, in the oil-rich eastern Al-Qatif region. It was the deadliest militant assault in the kingdom in more than a decade. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman vowed to punish those responsible for the “heinous terrorist attack.”
Interior Ministry official Bassam Attiyah said earlier this week that ISIS had divided the kingdom into five self-styled provinces. He said on state TV that the group’s short-term plans were to target the security forces and attack Shiites to foment sectarian strife. Then they plan to target foreigners, including those working in the OPEC member’s oil industry, he said.
“What we are seeing now is the short-term plans,” he said.
Mohammad al-Hajji, a Saudi Shiite activist, called on the government to curb hate speech against Shiites in mosques, schools and the media, warning that the growing ISIS threat is “bigger than us.”
“ISIS and whoever is behind it is trying to hit Saudi through the minority to create chaos in the region, and to make Saudi vulnerable,” the activist said. | 
