Saudi Gazette report A suicide bomber struck a mosque used by Interior Ministry special forces in the southwestern city of Abha on Thursday, killing at least 13 people, the ministry said. The Interior Ministry's statement said 10 of those killed were members of the security forces. The state-owned Al-Ekhbariya news channel earlier gave a higher death toll, reporting that 17 had been killed in the attack. It was not immediately clear why there was a discrepancy, but conflicting reports are common in the chaotic aftermath of bombings. Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said nine other people were wounded in the attack, three of them seriously. Other sources put the number of injured at 22. Al-Turki said initial findings point to the attack being carried out by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest. A official told the Associated Press that the bomb targeted police trainees as they were in the middle of noon (Al-Dhuhr) prayer. State media reported that the mosque belongs to an Interior Ministry emergency services post in Abha, the provincial capital of Asir. Immediately after the blast, Emir of Asir Prince Faisal Bin Khaled visited the mosque and later went to the hospital where the injured were being treated. “This cowardly terrorist act emanates from corrupt thought that aims to shake the security of the country and spread terror in the hearts of the citizens,” he said. He prayed to Almighty Allah to grant mercy and forgiveness to the souls of the martyrs and wished a quick recovery to the injured. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the local affiliate of Daesh (the so-called IS) group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks in recent months, including various deadly shootings and smaller attacks against police at checkpoints in the capital Riyadh. Thursday's attack was the deadliest against Saudi security forces since Daesh attacks first appeared in the Kingdom last year. A suicide bomber who struck a mosque in Al-Qudeeh village in Qatif province in May killed 22 people. That was the deadliest militant assault in the Kingdom in more than a decade, and was followed a week later by another suicide bombing outside another mosque that left four dead. In November, a gunman opened fire at a mosque in the eastern Saudi town of Al-Ahsa, killing eight. Saudi authorities last month announced the arrest of more than 400 suspects in an anti-terrorism sweep. They said at the time that they had thwarted other Daesh attacks, including a suicide bomb plot targeting a large mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia that can hold 3,000 worshipers, and attempts to attack other mosques, diplomatic missions and security bodies. Saudi Arabia is also leading a coalition targeting Iran-allied Shiite rebels in neighboring Yemen, not far from Abha. The rebels have carried out a number of cross-border attacks against military targets.
