RIYADH, Nov 3: Saudi security forces shot dead two suspected terrorists on Monday in a shootout in Makkah, a security source told AFP.

One policeman was lightly wounded in the exchange, the source confirmed after the state-run Channel One television flashed the news.

Security forces had been hunting a gang of six armed men in the early morning and located them holed up in a building in an eastern quarter of Makkah called Al Sharayaa.

Two gang members were killed and four escaped heading east to the mountains, the source added.

The kingdom has launched a crackdown on suspected Al Qaeda militants, notably since the May 12 triple suicide bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh that left 35 people dead.

Shootouts have since occurred frequently in which several security men as well as militants have been killed or wounded.

Hundreds of suspected terrorists have been detained since the Riyadh bombings. —AFP