RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's security forces revealed the details of an operation against four attackers in the Abu Hadria region, who targeted security personnel with guns and explosives.
According to a statement from a spokesman for state security, two wanted men, Majid Al-Faraj and Mahmoud Al-Zarea, were killed during the operation - while others, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were arrested following the operation.
Having identified the men as wanted, security forces intercepted a Tahoe 4x4 vehicle which the attackers were traveling in.
Security forces intercepted them and demanded their surrender, before the wanted men opened fire towards security personnel, who returned fire. The vehicle the attackers were using suffered damage, before they threw a hand grenade at a local fuel station and seized a tanker truck at gunpoint.
#UPDATE: The attackers in the Abu Hadria incident were driving in a Tahoe 4x4 when security forces stopped them - before the attackers opened fire on security personnel #SaudiArabiahttps://t.co/khYCxVDcua pic.twitter.com/uwrOsQb5yc
— Arab News (@arabnews) April 8, 2019
A Bahraini woman who had stopped at the fuel station and a Pakistani citizen who had been behind the wheel of the tanker truck were injured in the attack, as were two security personnel. They are being treated for their injuries.
According to the security forces statement, various weapons were seized following the attack including two glock pistols, seven machine guns and a hand grenade. A forged Bahraini ID card with a photo of wanted suspect Majid Al-Faraj on it and SR66,178 were also seized by security forces.
Early reports after the incident suggested the attackers were trying to bypass a security checkpoint to escape Saudi Arabia, as three of them were on a most wanted list in the Qatif region.
