Bomber targets US consulate
Police stage two controlled explosions after a suicide bomber dies and two people are wounded in a blast outside the US consulate in Saudi Arabia.
PT0M42S 620 349Dubai: A suicide bomber has carried out an attack outside the US consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, according to state-linked Saudi news sites.
Okaz news website said the bomber died in the attack, and that no other deaths were immediately reported. Reuters reported three police officers were injured in the blast.
#RedState BREAKING: Attacker Detonates Device Near US Consulate in Saudi Arabia https://t.co/XX3W1rTqhX
— Totally America (@Totally_America) July 4, 2016
A suicide bomber targeted the US consulate in Jeddah on Monday. Photo: Google Maps
Most of the consulate's staff had reportedly moved offices to a new location.
US Embassy officials in Saudi Arabia and Interior Ministry officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Saudi state TV said the attacker parked his car outside a mosque opposite the consulate and shortly afterwards his device detonated, killing him and lightly wounding three security men nearby.
A photograph on the Sabq news website showed what appeared to be the remains of a man lying next to a taxi.
A witness at the location told Reuters the area had been closed off by the security forces and that helicopters were flying overhead, but that none of the police on duty would confirm what had taken place.
A US State Department spokesperson, who was not authorised to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity, said US officials are aware of reports of an explosion in Jeddah and are working with Saudi authorities to collect more information.
A 2004 al-Qaeda-linked militant attack on the US consulate in Jeddah killed five locally hired consular employees and four gunmen. The three-hour battle on the heavily guarded compound came amid a wave of al-Qaeda attacks targeting Westerners and Saudi security posts.
#StayStrongSaudi I wonder if media will shine a light on whats happening in saudi arabia. they never did, and will never do.
— Raghad (@raghadalbakran) July 4, 2016
More recently, Saudi Arabia has been a target of Islamic State group attacks that have killed dozens of people. The extremist group views the Western-allied Saudi monarchy and government as heretics.
Saudi Arabia is part of the US-led coalition fighting the IS group in Iraq and Syria.
In June, the Interior Ministry reported 26 terror attacks had taken place in the kingdom in the last two years. Local affiliates of the IS group have targeted minority Shiites and security officials.
AP
