Print

Mail

wiki links

Saudi raid nabs 11 suspected militants

Saudi police arrested at least 11 suspected militants and seized a large weapons cache in southern Jazan province, newspapers reported Saturday.

A force of more than 200 security agents used tear gas and explosives Friday to blast into a two-story building where the Saudi and Bangladeshi suspects were hiding in Karbos village, near the porous Yemeni border, the daily al-Jazira reported.

The security forces found 93 bazooka rockets, more than 50 hand grenades, a number of machine guns, highly explosive chemicals, detonators and three security uniforms. They also found "deviant" religious books and bodybuilding and sports equipment, the paper said, quoting security sources.

Saudi Arabia has often complained about weapons smuggling from Yemen, a tribal country where illegal weapons trading is rampant and crackdowns have had limited success. The issue has grown more significant amid fear of terrorist attacks, and the two countries signed an agreement on June to coordinate border surveillance.

Friday's arrests took place without resistance, the papers said.

The daily Okaz, also quoting security sources, said eight of those arrested were wanted by Saudi authorities. It said a total of 21 people were arrested.

It was not possible to confirm the exact number of suspects arrested, and Saudi officials had no immediate comment.

The official Saudi news agency did not report the arrests.

The government has launched a heavy crackdown on Islamic militants since May 12 suicide bombings in Riyadh killed 26 people besides the nine attackers. More than 200 suspects have been arrested and more than a dozen killed in a series of high-profile police raids since then.

Al-Riyadh, another Saudi daily, quoted "informed sources" as saying that the Jazan arrests were the result of a tip by a suspect that was recently arrested in Abha, in the southwest of the kingdom. The newspaper showed a photo of the building where the men were hiding, and another of two security men with some of the seized weapons.

Also Saturday, senior Islamic clerics in the kingdom condemned terrorism as an "aberration" and warned citizens it would be "one of the greatest sins" to give shelter to terror suspects. The clerics issued their statement after a meeting in the western city of Taef.

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah said Thursday that his kingdom is engaged in a "decisive battle" against violent extremists and warned that any Saudi who harbors terrorists will not be spared. His comments followed warnings by the US and Britain of new terror threats in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has been under pressure to crush networks that include al-Qaeda, the terror group blamed for the Riyadh bombings and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US. Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers were Saudis.
This story has been viewed 1698 times.