DAMMAM, Sept 6: At least four security officers were killed and 10 injured in the three-day standoff in Dammam, eastern Saudi Arabia, which finally ended on Tuesday afternoon when the elite commandos stormed the villa where the militants were holed up. At least six militants were killed.

Some reports indicate that charred bodies were found in the villa. The area of the standoff was the posh Mubarakiah district on the sea front of Dammam. The villa was reportedly rented by the militants two months ago for SR40,000 per annum.

Despite repeated warnings by the authorities to give up, the extremists appeared determined to fight till their last bullet.

Three militants and two police officers were killed early on Tuesday, a security official said in Riyadh. Two militants and one security official were killed on Sunday afternoon, when the clash erupted.

The fighting intensified after daybreak on Tuesday, when a military helicopter dropped a team of commandos near the villa. Rocket-propelled grenades exploded and black smoke billowing from the roof of the villa became thicker.

Residents of the area kept awake for a second night Monday by sporadic gunfire and the deafening explosions of rocket propelled grenades, fired by the Special Forces at the villa.

A convoy of security vehicles brought in fresh troops and ammunition on Tuesday morning. A line of ambulances was parked at the perimeter of the battle zone.

Late Monday a security official said one of the two militants killed Sunday was No. 3 on the country’s most wanted list. He was identified as Zaid Saad Zaid al-Samari, 31, a Saudi sought in connection with the numerous terror attacks launched in the kingdom since May 2003. One other name identified by sources included Walid Al-Radadi. However, authorities have not confirmed any name as yet.

The Dammam clashes started Sunday afternoon when the security forces spotted two of the men, under security surveillance and wanted in the cases of terrorism in Panda super store on the Prince Mohammad street of Dammam.

Once they were cornered, instead of giving up, they preferred fighting it out until the last bullet.

Some sources have hinted that the group involved in the clashes could have escaped from Medinah fire-fight last month, in which Saleh Al-Awfi, the head of Al Qaeda in the kingdom was killed.

The shootout caused the US Embassy to close the American consulate in Dhahran, 15 miles southwest of Dammam, on Monday.

The violence in Dammam flared as the US Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend met King Abdullah and other top Saudi officials Monday in Riyadh.

The deputy commander of the US Central Command, Lt-Gen Lance Smith, met Saudi deputy defence minister Prince Khalid Bin Sultan.