Saudi security forces kill five suspected militants

Saudi security forces early Monday shot dead five suspected terrorists and arrested a sixth in raids in Riyadh conducted in pursuit of those responsible for the weekend attack on the huge oil processing complex in eastern Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry said.

Photo: Saudi security forces kill five suspected militants

"We think all the men involved had something to do with Abqaiq attempt," Lt. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, chief spokesman for the ministry, said referring to Friday's attempt by suicide bombers to detonate car bombs inside the world's biggest oil stabilization plant.

Al-Turki said that in two simultaneous operations, security forces raided two houses in eastern Riyadh, one in the Yarmouk district, that had been under surveillance.

Five suspects were shot dead in the Yarmouk house, and a sixth man was detained in the second house. The security forces suffered no casualties, al-Turki said.

"After an intense shootout, the security forces managed to kill all the five terrorists in a short time," the Interior Ministry said in a statement, which described the Yarmouk house as a "den of aggression."

"The shootout is over now," al-Turki said. "We will interrogate the arrested man."

Earlier Monday, the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television quoted Saudi security sources as saying the forces exchanged fire with the suspected terrorists for about two hours, reports the AP.

I.L.