RIYADH: Assailants fired on a police patrol in Jeddah on Sunday, injuring an officer, the country’s official media reported on Monday.

Saudi Press Agency quoted an unnamed Makkah police spokesman as saying security forces were investigating the incident. He did not say whether militants, who have staged a series of attacks on police in Riyadh, were suspected.

Earlier, supporters of the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group shot two Saudi policemen, bombed a mosque used by the security services and two other mosques used by Shias, killing 40 people.

The interior ministry said last month that it had detained 431 suspected supporters of IS and thwarted other attacks on mosques, security forces and a diplomatic mission.

Last year, IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on Saudi supporters to stage their own attacks inside the kingdom instead of travelling to Syria or Iraq.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2015

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