Islamic militants battled Saudi special forces for a third day Tuesday in a seafront district of this eastern city, with the extremists appearing to be determined to fight to their last bullet. Three militants and two police officers were killed in the early hours Tuesday, a security official said in Riyadh, speaking on condition of anonymity.The fighting intensified after daybreak, when a military helicopter dropped off a team of commandos near the villa where the militants were holed up. Rocket propelled grenades exploded, and the black smoke billowing from the roof of the militants' villa became thicker.
Police cordoned off the entire Mubarakiah district in Damman, 250 miles northeast of the capital Riyadh. Police checkpoints did not allow any vehicle to leave the neighborhood Tuesday. Residents were kept awake for a second night Monday by sporadic gunfire and the deafening explosions of rocket propelled grenades, fired by the special forces at the villa.
A convoy of security vehicles brought in fresh troops and ammunition on Tuesday morning. A line of ambulances was parked at the perimeter of the battle zone. Late Monday night officials at Damman Central Hospital said about 30 Saudi police officers, including some critically wounded, had been admitted. Security officials declined to give overall figures for the dead and wounded.
Late Monday a security official said one of the two militants killed Sunday was No. 3 on the country's most wanted list. He was identified as Zaid Saad Zaid al-Samari, 31, a Saudi sought in connection with the numerous terror attacks launched in the kingdom since May 2003. The shootout caused the U.S. Embassy to close the American consulate in Dhahran, 15 miles southwest of Dammam, on Monday.
Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour al-Turki has said security forces are facing an unknown number of militants armed with firearms and homemade explosives. "We are dealing with people who have a tendency to blow themselves up and we know they have a significant number of weapons and explosives and might take actions that will have a negative effect," al-Turki told the AP.
The Interior Ministry has said the gunmen are affiliated to a "deviant group," the term the Saudis usually use for the local branch of the al-Qaida network. Since May 2003, Islamic militants have carried out numerous attacks, suicide bombings and kidnappings in the kingdom. They have tended to target Westerners in a bid to cripple the economy. Westerners occupy important positions in the oil industry. Al-Qaida wants to topple the Saudi royal family because of its close ties with the West, particularly the United States.
The violence in Dammam flared as the U.S. Homeland Security adviser, Frances Townsend, met King Abdullah and other top Saudi officials Monday in Riyadh. The deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command, Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance Smith, met Saudi deputy defense minister, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan.