MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A Saudi special forces serviceman has been killed by militants during an operation to prevent a terrorist attack in the country's western Mecca Province, local media reported Sunday, citing the Interior Ministry.
Two unidentified gunmen attempted to enter a police station's parking lot in the Mecca's city of Taif, the Al Ekhbariya television channel said. The militants opened fire after spotting servicemen and subsequently escaped to mountainous area, where Saudi army private Saeed Harithy was killed in a shootout, the TV channel reported.
An explosive belt and bomb-making substances were confiscated from the gunmen.
On Thursday, Saudi special forces killed four alleged Daesh (IS) members during an anti-terror operation in Mecca Province.
Saudi law enforcement and the Shiite minority population have repeatedly been a target of attacks by Daesh, a group outlawed in a number of countries worldwide, in the east of Saudi Arabia, which became unstable after Riyadh executed a prominent Shiite cleric earlier this year.
