Saudi forces killed seven militants in a shootout in Riyadh late on Wednesday after twin car bomb attacks against security targets in the latest strike by Islamist extremists waging a campaign of violence in the oil-rich kingdom. The swift response to the bombings, as detailed in an official account early Thursday, was reminiscent of the killing last June of the local leader of the Al Qaeda terror network and three associates in the Saudi capital shortly after they posted website photos of the beheading of a US hostage.
| "Yeah! We're all fired up! Don't hold us back, now!" |
An interior ministry statement portrayed at least one of the two bombings as a suicide attack and said there were so far no reports of fatalities among security men or civilians, although several were wounded in the two blasts. "Before 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) Wednesday, members of the deviant group (the official term for suspected Al Qaeda militants) blew up a car loaded with a large amount of explosives outside the interior ministry building in Riyadh," the statement said. Five ministry guards were lightly wounded and a sixth sustained moderate injuries. A number of people who were present at the scene were also wounded and hospitalized, the ministry said without giving an exact figure. "At the same time, (another) car laden with explosives drove to the special security forces base in east Riyadh ... but security forces were able to intercept it before it arrived to the building. Whoever was inside (the vehicle) detonated it at a distance of more than 350 meters (yards) from the entrance," the statement said.
| At least he got it in the right county... |
It said 12 people inside the building sustained slight injuries from flying glass, "and a number of citizens and (foreign) residents who were on the scene" were also wounded.
| From 350 meters away? That was a buncha boom... |
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