A suicide bomber detonated explosives during prayers at a Shia mosque in the village of Qadeeh, Qatif governorate, killing 21 people and injuring more than 100 on Friday. Saudi branch of the ISIL militant group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.
"This terrorist organization aims at driving a wedge between people of different confessions in the kingdom to divide it into five parts," Attiyah said.
The general added that the IS began building up its cell in Saudi Arabia four months ago, actively recruiting young people and children through social networks.
Immediately after the explosion, Qadeeh’s residents organized a spontaneous protest, blaming the Saudi authorities for the failure to ensure the security in the Saudi Eastern Province, populated by the country’s Shiite minority.
The Qatif governorate of the oil-rich Eastern Province was a center of protests against Shia minority’s discrimination in 2011.
