Four people were killed Friday when a car exploded near a mosque in Saudi Arabia\u2019s eastern city of Dammam, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported, adding that militants failed in their bid to hit the mosque after security officials foiled the attack.<\/p>\n
The attack targetted worshippers in al-Anoud mosque during Friday prayers, a ministry spokesperson said, quoted by the Saudi state news agency SPA.
\nResidents circulated pictures of a badly disfigured body of a man believed to be the suicide bomber as well as pictures of large black clouds of smoke billowing over a parking lot outside the mosque.
\nThe incident happened when a suicide bomber disguised in women’s clothing blew himself up at the entrance to a Saudi Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, the interior ministry said.
\n“Authorities have managed to foil a terrorist crime targeting people performing the Friday prayers at al-Anoud mosque in Dammam,” capital of Eastern Province, said a ministry spokesman.<\/p>\n
The bomber “detonated the explosive belt he was wearing at the mosque entrance as security officials were on their way to inspect him,” said the spokesman, citing preliminary investigation results.<\/p>\n
The explosion went off just as the attacker’s car stopped at a parking lot near the Shiite mosque, the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
The explosion killed the attacker as well as three others and wounded four people, he said.<\/p>\n
ISIS claim<\/strong> Source: Alarabiya<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Four people were killed Friday when a car exploded near a mosque in Saudi Arabia\u2019s eastern city of Dammam, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported, adding that militants failed in their bid to hit the mosque after security officials foiled the attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c59-islamic-world"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nThe Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed the suicide bombing.
\nThe group said in a statement distributed by militant accounts on Twitter that the bombing killed three people and was carried out by “soldier of the caliphate Abu Jandal al-Jazrawi.”
\nIt said the bomber managed to “reach the target despite heavy protection” outside the mosque
\nThe blast comes days after a May 22 suicide bombing on a Shiite mosque in a village in Eastern Province killed 21 people. ISIS had also claimed that attack.
\nIn November, ISIS-linked gunmen killed seven Shiites in the Eastern Province town of al-Dalwa.<\/p>\n