21 killed by a suicide bombing at Saudi Shi’ite mosque. IS claims responsibility

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A suicide bomb attack at the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh in the eastern province of Gatif, Saudi Arabia KILLED 21 , May 22, 2015. REUTERS/STRINGER
A suicide bomb attack at the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh in the eastern province of Gatif, Saudi Arabia KILLED 21 , May 22, 2015.
REUTERS/STRINGER
A suicide bomber killed 21 worshippers on Friday in a packed Shi’ite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia, residents and the health minister said, the first attack in the kingdom to be claimed by Islamic State militants.

It was one of the deadliest assaults in recent years in the largest Gulf Arab country, where sectarian tensions have been frayed by nearly two months of Saudi-led air strikes on Shi’ite Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.

More than 150 people were praying when the huge explosion ripped through the Imam Ali mosque in the village of al-Qadeeh, witnesses said.

A video posted online showed a hall filled with smoke and dust, with bloodied people moaning with pain as they lay on the floor littered with concrete and glass. More than 90 people were wounded, the Saudi health minister told state television.

“We were doing the first part of the prayers when we heard the blast,” worshipper Kamal Jaafar Hassan told Reuters by phone from the scene.

Islamic State said in a statement that one of its suicide bombers, identified as Abu ‘Ammar al-Najdi, carried out the attack using an explosives-laden belt that killed or wounded 250 people, U.S.-based monitoring group SITE said on its Twitter account. It said it would not rest until Shi’ites, which the group views as heretics, were driven from the Arabian peninsula.

Saudi officials have said the group is trying hard to attack the kingdom, which as the world’s top oil exporter, birthplace of Islam and champion of conservative Sunni doctrine, represents an important ally for Western countries battling Islamic State and a symbolic target for the militant group itself.

In November the Sunni group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called for attacks against the Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia, which has declared Islamic State a terrorist organization, joined international air strikes against it, and mobilized top clergy to denounce it.

Last week Baghdadi issued another speech laden with derogatory comments about the Saudi leadership and the country’s Shi’ite minority.

Friday’s bombing was the first attack targeting minority Shi’ites since November, when gunmen opened fire during a religious celebration in al-Ahsa, also in the east where most of the group live in predominantly Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia.

SECTARIAN TENSIONS

The Saudi Interior Ministry described the attack as an act of terrorism and said it was carried out by “agents of sedition trying to target the kingdom’s national fabric”, according to a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

The agency quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman as saying the bomber detonated a suicide belt hidden under his clothes inside the mosque.

“Security authorities will spare no effort in the pursuit of all those involved in this terrorist crime,” the official said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.

A hospital official told Reuters by telephone that “around 20 people” were killed in the attack and more than 50 were being treated, some of them suffering from serious injuries. He said a number of other people had been treated and sent home.

In April, Saudi Arabia said it was on high alert for a possible attacks on oil installations or shopping malls.

In Beirut, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an ally of Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Iran, condemned the attack but said authorities in the kingdom itself bore responsibility.

“Hezbollah holds the Saudi authorities fully responsible for this ugly crime, for its embrace and sponsorship for these criminal murderers … to carry out similar crimes in other Arab and Muslim countries,” the Shi’ite group said in a statement.

The statement appeared to echo Iranian accusations that Saudi Arabia sponsors ultra-orthodox Sunni militant groups in the region, an allegation usually taken to refer to groups such as Islamic State and al Qaeda. Riyadh denies the allegations.

In Yemen, a bomb at a Houthi mosque in the capital Sanaa on Friday was also claimed by Islamic State.

REUTERS

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32 responses to “21 killed by a suicide bombing at Saudi Shi’ite mosque. IS claims responsibility”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    They haven’t been back to do the ones in Tripoli again … yet. Let’s hope the Army is still watching.

  2. IS militants began using donkeys suicide http://lenta.ru/news/2014/09/26/isis/

  3. professor puddlesworth Avatar
    professor puddlesworth

    Does anyone see a pattern here with extremist Islamic beliefs and explosives??

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Why, no, Professor … but … now that you mention it …

      1. Hend Abyad Avatar
        Hend Abyad

        Now that you mention it..

      2. Hend Abyad Avatar
        Hend Abyad

        Why is “Paisly” deleted ? Moderator must be in love with O’moderate.

        1. 5thDrawer Avatar
          5thDrawer

          no idea …

  4. (offtopic) Many children 65-year-old German woman has given birth to quadruplets http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32857398

    1. Hend Abyad Avatar
      Hend Abyad

      old news up there on YaLibnan since last week

      1. 5thDrawer Avatar
        5thDrawer

        Yup .. and that’ll teach her … :-)))))

        1. Hend Abyad Avatar
          Hend Abyad

          Herr Vichy?

          1. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Can’t mess with Mother Nature. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  5. Hannibal Avatar
    Hannibal

    As soon as this idiot Obama is gone the republicans will blow ISIS off this planet.

    1. queen lakisha Avatar
      queen lakisha

      who axed yo pinion u undecated creepy ass pekerwood racist? Obama was iz best presi on america histry, you come in the hood and I give yu ass a getto fabulous wooping!

      1. Hend Abyad Avatar
        Hend Abyad

        Obama is cold to persecution of Christians in the Middle East and so are those who have the power, Israel and Saudis
        http://www.aleteia.org/en/world/aggregated-content/obama-cold-to-the-persecution-of-christians-in-the-middle-east-5796855724113920

        1. Are You want help from Israel? Christians in Israel O.K. also Israel O.K. with kurds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraqi_Kurdistan%E2%80%93Israel_relations

          1. Hend Abyad Avatar
            Hend Abyad

            No i don’t want help from Israel, i want you to give your news and leave me alone.

          2. MaImequer0 Avatar
            MaImequer0

            I thought you said that you were from Haifa, sweetie… lol…are you insane?โ˜ป

        2. Hend Abyad Avatar
          Hend Abyad

          Sorry Geo ๐Ÿ™‚

          1. queen lakisha Avatar
            queen lakisha

            Nothing to be sorry for Hindy ๐Ÿ™‚ you should know by now that I refuse to grow up and act my age or wage :)P I hope you are having a nice weekend. Cookie is running scared He doesn’t like my new look =D

          2. Lol it’s obvious why you and whistleblower get along. Two rapist taqqiya whores

          3. Hend Abyad Avatar
            Hend Abyad

            I posted an article instead of ..you know me ๐Ÿ™‚

      2. Hannibal Avatar
        Hannibal

        Learn how to speak tree monkey.

        1. queen lakisha Avatar
          queen lakisha

          wat took you solong honkey been waiting for yo reply, me cant keep dis Avatar all weekend…..its Geo =D I told my wife you had a temper and felt like messing with you and was waiting for a Hannibal reaction :):):)

          1. Hannibal Avatar
            Hannibal

            Geo you bastard…
            I am going to skin and eat a bird… ๐Ÿ˜› lol

          2. queen lakisha Avatar
            queen lakisha

            HaHaHa, You sure know the way to get me back, I do love birds but its a pile of stress and work, No worries you can get me back and for what its worth I like messing with people I am fond of, Hope you are doing well brother!

          3. 5thDrawer Avatar
            5thDrawer

            Probably working 5 jobs by now …. I hear they are paying less each year – for doing anything … But I thought his son was keeping track of you.
            BTW … thanks for all pics. ๐Ÿ˜‰

          4. queen lakisha Avatar
            queen lakisha

            Well “Tough titty said the kiddie when his milk went dry” almost makes me want to breast feed lol, glad you got the pics I took a video with my phone but for some reason I cant email it (technically challenged) I will get it to you somehow, 2 adult sand hill cranes with 2 babies I have been watching grow up, all four ran to me as soon as I exit my car, why couldn’t blondes be this attracted to me :)P

          5. Hannibal Avatar
            Hannibal

            Doing good… Busy at work and home helping kids with finals and projects ๐Ÿ˜‰

    2. Hend Abyad Avatar
      Hend Abyad
      1. UN like you obsessed with Israel

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