RIYADH, Jan 29: Five Saudi security men and the father of a wanted militant were shot dead by unknown gunmen during a raid in Riyadh on Thursday, after the militant was arrested, the interior ministry and residents said.

"Based on information about the existence of weapons and explosives at the place of residence of a man wanted on security charges, a (security) unit went to the place accompanied by his father" after arresting the militant in the morning, said a ministry official quoted by the state news agency SPA.

"Two hand grenades, two machine-guns and five pistols were found. As the unit was completing its task, (it came) under heavy fire from unknown elements, which resulted in the deaths of five security men and the wanted man's father.

"Two security men were also wounded," the official said. The interior ministry official added that "a number of suspects" were arrested and "the incident is still being followed up."

Residents told AFP that the raid took place in the afternoon, hours after the militant's arrest, on a villa in the Al-Fayhaa neighborhood of Al-Nassim district in eastern Riyadh.

The security forces exchanged fire with gunmen, and ambulances were seen evacuating casualties, they said. An AFP correspondent at the scene saw security forces still combing the area in search of fugitives at around 1700 GMT, but the shooting had stopped.

Saudi security forces clashed with gunmen in the same Al-Nassim district on Jan 18, and the capital's police chief subsequently said "a number of suspects" had been detained.-AFP