A suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking lot of a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia during Friday prayers, killing four people in the second such attack in as many weeks claimed by the Islamic State terrorist group.
The attack, which set vehicles alight and sent a cloud of black smoke into the air, came after a suicide bombing a week ago at another Shiite mosque killed 21 people, AP reported.
Both attacks took place in the oil-rich east, which has a sizable Shiite majority that has long complained of discrimination. The IS group and other Sunni extremists view Shiites as apostates deserving of death.
There were conflicting reports of the attack, which took place after worshippers packed 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 of the mosque and that the bomber detonated his payload as they approached.
“Thank God, security authorities managed to foil a terrorist crime targeting worshippers,” the agency said in a statement. It was unclear if the bomber was among the four dead.
A security official also said the attacker was dressed in traditional female clothing as a cover-up and blew himself up after being stopped by security guards. He insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The IS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by its “Najd Province,” referring to a region in the central Arabian Peninsula.
A statement posted on a Facebook page used by the group said a “soldier of the caliphate,” identified as Abu Jandal al-Jazrawi, blew himself up among at the Shiite mosque. The name al-Jazrawi suggests that the bomber is a Saudi national.
